Allegory of the Liberal Arts (Astronomy)
second half 19th century
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
Overall: 8 15/16 x 10 11/16 in. (22.7 x 27.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.517
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the second half of the19th century, French Jules-Edmond- Lachaise and Eug-Pierre Gourdet created *Allegory of the Liberal (Astronomy)*, a delicate graphite drawing measuring 8 15/16 x 10 11/16 inches. This preparatory work, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints (acquired via the Dodge Fund in 1967), exemplifies the era's fascination with classical education and symbolic representation. Graphite a versatile medium prized for its precision and subtle tonal range, allowed the artists to render intricate details with remarkable clarity, bridging neoclassical traditions...
About the Artist
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise|Eugène-Pierre Gourdet · 1897–1897
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, born Jules Lachaise on September 2, 1836, in Paris, emerged as a prominent French painter and draughtsman specializing in lavish interior decorations during the Second Empire and beyond. Little is known about his early life and formal training, though he married Berthe Gourdet in 1866, forging a close professional partnership with her brother, the decorator Eugène-Pi...