Dice-Thrower and Other Studies after Ancient Sculptures
1775/80
Medium
black chalk and gray wash on laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 15.2 x 21.1 cm (6 x 8 5/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
1998.105.1.c
Art Historical Context
In the late 1770s, as a young artist in Rome, Jacques-Louis David honed his craft through meticulous studies of classical antiquity, as seen in *Dice-Thrower and Other Studies after Ancient Sculptures* (ca. 1775/80). This intimate drawing on laid paper captures dynamic figures—a dice-thrower in mid-gesture alongside other sculptural motifs—echoing Greco-Roman masterpieces like those from the Borghese collections. David's early exposure to these ancient works fueled his lifelong passion for ideal anatomy and heroic form, laying the groundwork for his revolutionary Neoclassical paintings. Rende...
About the Artist
Jacques-Louis David · 1748–1825
Jacques-Louis David, born on August 30, 1748, in Paris, emerged as the preeminent French painter of Neoclassicism, a movement emphasizing austere lines, moral clarity, and classical antiquity as antidotes to Rococo frivolity. Orphaned young after his father's death in a duel, he was raised by prosperous architect uncles and educated at the Collège des Quatre-Nations. Defying family expectations, D...