Antique Statue of Standing Faun with Cymbals
1775
Medium
Charcoal with stumping, heightened with traces of white chalk, on ivory wove paper prepared with a pale blue ground
Dimensions
50.5 × 38.2 cm (19 15/16 × 15 1/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83217
Art Historical Context
Step into the neoclassical world of 1775 with John Downman's *Antique Statue of Standing Faun with Cymb*, a captivating drawing now housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Prints and Drawings. This 50.5 × 38.2 cm work depicts a lively ancient Roman faun—a playful, half-human, half-goat figure from classical mythology—poised dynamically with cymbals in hand. Downman, a British artist celebrated for his delicate portraits and historical scenes, skillfully captured the statue's antique charm during an era of fervent fascination with Greco-Roman antiquity, fueled by the Grand Tour and Enlightenment ...
About the Artist
John Downman · 1750–1824
John Downman (1750–1824) was born in Ruabon, near Wrexham, in North Wales. His artistic inclinations proved stronger than any legal ambitions his family held for him, and he began his formal training in Liverpool before enrolling in 1769 among the first intake of students at the newly established Royal Academy Schools in London. There he studied under Benjamin West. In 1773, Downman deepened his e...