The Old Savoyard c. 1715

Jean-Antoine Watteau sketched this Savoyard in sanguine and black chalk. The Savoyard, often a wandering entertainer from the Savoy region, emerges as a symbol of transience and hardship. He is the archetypal vagrant. The Savoyard's image echoes the ancient motif of the wanderer, a figure found in various guises across cultures. Think of the medieval pilgrim, or even the wandering Jew, forever displaced. These figures carry the weight of history, embodying collective anxieties about displacement. The hat, large and worn, and the cloak, once perhaps finer, conceal and protect. These motifs appear in depictions of travelling players throughout the Renaissance, figures of amusement but also of mistrust. The Savoyard evokes a sense of melancholy, a reflection on the transient nature of existence. It is a powerful visual metaphor engaging our subconscious, reminding us of the cyclical nature of human experience, forever caught between security and uncertainty, familiarity and the unknown.