Description:
nude male drawn from knees up, with small goatee and horns, turned toward proper right, holding a basket of fruit

Label Text:
Label text for ARH 240 French and Italian Drawings Renaissance through Romanticism, written by Ellen Monroe, class of 2015:

Natoire created this study in preparation for the painting The Triumph of Bacchus (below), completed in 1747. This type of preparatory drawing was a typical step for artists in the creation of a complex composition as early as the Renaissance. The Triumph of Bacchus, like many Rococo paintings, is derived from mythology. Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, and the joyous atmosphere of the final painting is invoked in this drawing. Characteristic of Natoire, the figure’s anatomy is carefully proportioned and the red chalk lines are confident and angular, best seen in the faun’s hands as they grasp the basket of grapes.

Tags:
men; fruit; mythology

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1951.270

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