In this series, Index asks our colleagues “What is your favorite work of art in our collections and why?” This is a tall order, given that we have about 250,000 works in our collections. At a recent weekly coffee hour, our intrepid reporters posed the challenging question to unsuspecting staff. Click here to see other responses in this series.

Harry Metcalf, Craigen W. Bowen Paper Conservation Fellow

“Wow! Okay. Do I have any time to think about this?”

No.

“Right. Gosh.”

That’s what makes it fun.

“I think… that’s really difficult! One of the drawings by Ingres, which one I don’t know… Study for the Right Hand of Monsieur Louis Bertin.

“I have long been a fan of the portrait of the faintly sinister Monsieur Bertin in the Louvre—primarily because of his fantastic claw-like hands that emerge from his cuffs. Quite an imposing character.”