A small red chalk drawing of a crouching child has emerged from a private collection in northern Italy, and specialists believe it came from the hand of Édouard Manet, the nineteenth-century French painter who helped launch modern art. The sheet had sat quietly in obscurity, with no scholar studying it, until a visiting art historian noticed it and recognised something special. The attribution rests on a faded studio stamp, a distinctive drawing style, and a striking resemblance to figures in some of Manet's most celebrated canvases. This is how the discovery unfolded, why experts are excited, and what remains unanswered. The find also highlights how overlooked works in private collections can reshape our understanding of an artist’s practice and creative process.
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