Delacroix's Portrait of Frédéric Villot shows an extraordinarily broad range of light and dark tones and an equally complex variety of transitions among them. The juxtaposition of subtle shading and aggressive contrasts produces striking effects of light and texture, in which illusionism never obscures the beauty of the media or the vigor of their application. Effects of contrast and the juxtaposition of colors were a favorite topic of discussion between Villot and Delacroix, while they remained friends. Delacroix acknowledged Villot's superior understanding and skill in these matters and expressed his desire to emulate him. In his portrait of Villot he developed these ideas in monochrome, and his ambitious purpose led him to seek a common ground between diverse broad media, rather than to push a single material to its limits.

Delacroix's graphite underdrawing is visible over the crown of Villot's head, at the back of his collar, and along the outer edge of his right sleeve, as far as the elbow. A broad, sash-like graphite stroke extending from the right shoulder across the chest to the left armpit and a second stroke passing downwards from the first over the left breast seem to have been drawn at an early stage of execution, since they are mostly covered by overdrawing and are invisible to the unaided eye. except for their subtle contribution to the texture and reflectivity of the surface. Elsewhere the graphite preliminary sketch is no longer evident, although few scattered spots may be fragments of it. Either the remainder has been entirely covered, or Delacroix decided to complete the sketch in the gray chalk with which he worked out the entire figure and facial details. Villot's left hand and forearm were drawn entirely in this chalk, as well as the broad strokes which suggest the lower part of his body.

Delacroix then shaded the chest, shoulder, and background with parallel strokes of charcoal and worked it with a stump. The soft effect and warmish tone are typical of charcoal, and the substance (especially in the stumped areas) lies at the bottom of the paper fibers. The subtle contours of the face also seem to have been worked in charcoal with a stump.

Using a very dense black artificial chalk, Delacroix then worked over the most important structural lines and details as well as the central shading, where he imitated the parallel strokes of the charcoal and allowed the chalk to face gradually into its light, warmer tones. To achieve his darkest blacks, most notably in the hair, he buried the support under a thick crust of this black chalk.

Highlights were finally added. Patches of soft graphite express the moist luster of the eyes, especially in the inner corners, where it was applied most thickly, and enliven the left temple, which is overshadowed by the darkest and most opaque passage in the drawing. The graphite strokes across the chest may be related, although they seem to have been added earlier. Villot's brilliant pupils were excavated, and the lines were cut through the dense black chalk under his chin.

A patch of white chalk was applied over the right back of the chair, probably in order to subdue an excessively obtrusive detail. Another white spot occurs on the other side in the clank background. Delacroix may have indulged in this experiment before deciding against its use in the figure. Several erasures are visible, especially the heavily rubbed are over the left wrist.

The circumstance of the portrait and the consistent use of the media indicate that Delacroix formed his idea of the chiaroscuro and planned his methods at an early stage, if not in advance. The early abandonment of the pencil, the white chalk, and the erasures suggest, however, that he relied to some extent on improvisation and experiment during the course of his work. His elaborate combination of media is the antithesis of his virtuosic exploitation of the graphite pencil alone in this Dutch Interior (Fogg 1942.61), yet they share the same techniques of shading with broad parallel strokes and the creation of facial contours by stumping. Courbet's self-portrait before and easel (Fogg 1943.787) is even more thoroughly finished than Delacroix's portrait of Villot. In contrast to Delacroix's brilliant illumination, Courbet's somber interior suggested a technique in which chalk was used almost exclusively (The few traces of graphite are almost totally obscured by overdrawing.): a gray chalk ground was laid, denser lines drawn over it, and highlights achieved subtractively, by erasure. Ingres, in his earlier study of his portrait of Madame d'Houssonville (1965.294) used pencil alone to establish his composition. Later, in order to study the effect of light on complexly contoured textures, he resorted to chalk (or charcoal?) but drew the arms, shoulders, and head in graphite. Ingres' simple and elegant solution reflects differences both of esthetic and of purpose. Delacroix's portrait of Villot was note a preparatory drawing, but and experiment which emerged from their common desire to capture elusive phenomena.

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