Composition with Bathing Venus Pudica Type; a Triton; a Fleeing Figure (from Sketchbook)
1810–20
Medium
Ink, wash, on paper
Dimensions
9 x 11 1/2 in. (22.9 x 29.2 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.182.13 verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Sully's *Composition with Bathing Venusica Type; a Triton a Fleeing Figurefrom Sketchbook)*, between 1810 and 1820, offers a glimpse into the imaginative world of one of America's foremost early 19th-century portraitists. Sully, who trained in London under influences like Sir Thomas Lawrence and brought neoclassical flair back to Philadelphia, often sketched mythological scenes as studies for larger compositions. This intimate ink and wash drawing on paper—measuring just 9 x 11½ inches—captures a dynamic trio: a modestly posed Venus Pudica echoing classical sculptures, a muscular Triton...
About the Artist
Thomas Sully · 1783–1872
Thomas Sully, born on June 19, 1783, in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to actor parents Matthew Sully and Sarah Chester, emigrated with his family to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1792. Raised in a theatrical environment, young Thomas debuted as a tumbler at age 11 before discovering his artistic talent. He studied miniature painting with his brother Lawrence Sully, brother-in-law Jean Belzon...