The Bellelli Family

Edgar Degas 1834–1917

The Bellelli Family (1858) by Edgar Degas. Its palette is led by charcoal (#201d1f, 37%) and stone (#696b5f, 24%). Overall the canvas is mid-toned, muted and warm.

Color note

Degas worked more and more in pastel, building up layers of pure color and fixing each coat; many of his dancers are pastels, not oils.

Palette

#201d1f MG 222 charcoal 37.1% of canvas
#696b5f MG 175 stone 23.7% of canvas
#514c40 MG 176 taupe 14.3% of canvas
#605c4a MG 193 golden olive 13.5% of canvas
#9d998c MG 173 putty 11.3% of canvas

Color families

Brown 42%, Black 34%, Gray 24%, Green 0%, Yellow 0%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.42
Contrast: 0.47
Vividness: 0.016
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 169 cells
Hue range: 0.30
Focus: 0.00

Composition

56% of the visual weight is in the left half, 60% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.22 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 33% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 28% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1858
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 200.0 × 253.0 cm
Genre: family portrait
Collection: Musée d'Orsay, Paris

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More by Edgar Degas

Interior, 1868
The Ballet Class, 1871
L'Absinthe, 1875
Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando, 1879