The 17th century is traditionally considered to be the golden age of pastels. A medium without equal for rendering the effects of matter and the velvetiness of skin tone, pastels were often used only for portraits, to which they were particularly well suited. The Musée d'Orsay collection contains around 500 works. This book highlights, through a hundred or so works, the singularity of pastel, which is neither truly a drawing nor a painting, and the immediate relationship with the material that is its own. Pastel is essentially made up of pure pigments, and creates a flower suspended on the
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