Creation of Adam; Sleeping Adam, after Michaelangelo; Other Figures; Profile of Head of Man in Helmut (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
53.182.4 verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this lively sketchbook page from around 1810–1820, American artist Thomas Sully pays homage to Michelangelo's Renaissance masterpieces. Titled *Creation of Adam; Sleeping, after Michelangelo; Other Figures; Profile of Head of Man in Helmet*, features dynamic studies of muscular male nudes, including the iconic near-touch of God's finger to Adam's in the Sistine Chapel ceiling, a reclining Sleeping Adam, and a helmeted profile head. Sully, a prominent Philadelphia portraitist influenced by European Romanticism during his time in England, captured these in fluid ink lines and subtle washes on...
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...