How does this artwork elucidate its Analysis?
As with a painting by Velázquez, Manet conceived a shallow depth, where vertical and horizontal planes are barely distinguishable. According to Peter H. Feist, in The Player fife, Manet showed the appeal of "the decorative effect of a large single figure, with emphatic contours and placed before a background surface." Against a monochrome background, the figure is boldly highlighted with a reduced palette of colors mostly laid on in a thick impasto which brings forth the very sharp black of the jacket and shoes, along with the red pants, white strap, spats and so on. Thus, the figure stands "firm, smooth and alive."Moreover, as in Velázquez's work, Manet also portrayed an anonymous character, a teenage musician of the band of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon III, who was sent to Manet by commander Lejosne, "treated like a grandee of Spain." Additional models may have also posed for the figure: the likenesses of both Léon Leenhoff and Victorine Meurent have been seen in the boy's face and figure.
Victorine Meurent Peter H. Feist Imperial Guard impasto