Comfort the Afflicted
c. 1790
Medium
pen and gray ink with gray and brown wash over graphite on laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 13.3 x 45.6 cm (5 1/4 x 17 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Paul Mellon Collection
Accession Number
1986.72.7
Art Historical Context
"Comfort the Afflicted is a delicate drawing by the esteemed British neoclassical artist John Flaxman, created around 1790. Executed in pen and gray ink with gray brown wash over graphite on laid paper, this work measures 13.3 x 45.6 cm and exemplifies Flaxman's mastery of linear elegance. Housed in the National Gallery Art's Paul Mellon Collection it captures the refined aesthetic of late 18th Britain, where neoclassicism drew inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman art during the Enlightenment era. Flaxman, a pioneering sculptor and illustrator, was renowned for his spare, outline-driven s...
About the Artist
John Flaxman · 1755–1826
John Flaxman (1755–1826) was born in York, England, the son of John Flaxman Sr., a moulder and seller of plaster casts who ran a studio in London's Covent Garden. Largely self-taught amid his father's stock of classical casts, with minimal formal schooling due to childhood illness, Flaxman displayed prodigious talent early on. At age 12, he won a Society of Arts prize for a medallion; by 15, anoth...