Bust of Man Facing Left
ca. 1777–85
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
4 x 3 3/8 in. (10.2 x 8.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960
Accession Number
60.620.78
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate graphite drawing, created by Baron Dominique Vivant Denon around 1777–85, captures the profile of a man in a quiet, contemplative pose. Measuring just four inches tall, small scale invites close viewing and suggests the work may have served as a personal study or preparatory sketch.on, a French artist, diplomat, and later director of the Louvre, was active during the late Enlightenment, a period when portraiture often emphasized character and restraint over grandeur. Executed in graphite on paper, the drawing highlights the medium’s capacity for delicate line work and subtle ton...
About the Artist
baron Dominique Vivant Denon · 1747–1825
Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (1747–1825), was a multifaceted French artist, diplomat, and archaeologist whose life bridged the Ancien Régime, Revolution, and Napoleonic Empire. Born on January 4, 1747, in Givry near Chalon-sur-Saône to a family of minor nobility originally surnamed "de Non," he was sent to Paris at eighteen to study law. Instead, he pursued art, studying painting under Noël Hallé...