Standing Man with His Right Hand on His Chest
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over red chalk on tan paper. Traces of squaring in graphite and red chalk.
Dimensions
14 15/16 x 9 5/8 in. (38 x 24.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
Accession Number
1972.118.236
Tags
Art Historical Context
This expressive drawing, created around 1787, captures a standing male figure with his right hand pressed to his chest in a gesture of sincerity or solemnity. Attributed to Jacques-Louis David or François-André Vincent—both leading French artists of the period—the work reflects the era’s growing interest in classical ideals and emotional clarity just before the French Revolution. Such figure studies often served as preparations for larger history paintings that celebrated virtue and civic duty. Executed in pen and brown ink with brush-applied wash over red chalk on tan paper, the sheet demons...
About the Artist
Jacques Louis David|François André Vincent · 1748–1825
Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), born in Paris on August 30 to a prosperous family, faced early tragedy when his father was killed in a duel around age nine. Raised by his mother's two architect uncles after his mother departed, David overcame family resistance to architecture and a facial tumor that hindered his speech and studies at the Collège des Quatre-Nations. He began training under the Roc...