Sketch of a Classical Pedestal
1776–79
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 10 1/16 x 8 9/16 in. (25.5 x 21.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1934
Accession Number
34.78.2(80)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Hardwick’s *Sketch of a Classical Pedestal* offers a glimpse into the meticulous study of ancient design that shaped British neoclassicism in the late eighteenth century. Created in graphite between 1776 and 1779, the drawing captures the crisp profiles and decorative details of a Roman-inspired pedestal, complete with boldly rendered eagles and expressive faces. Such ornamental motifs were prized for their symbolic power—eagles evoking imperial strength and the faces suggesting theatrical masks or ancestral portraits. As a working study rather than a finished presentation piece, the s...