Écorché: Three Studies of a Male Cadaver
n.d.
Medium
Pen and brown ink, graphite
Dimensions
Overall: 9 5/8 x 14 1/16 in. (24.4 x 35.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of David and Constance Yates, 2013
Accession Number
2013.1135.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
Eugène Delacroix, towering figure of French Romanticism, masterfully captured the human form in *Écorché: Three of a Male Cadaver*, a poignant drawing from his extensive sketchbooks. Rendered in pen and brown ink with graphite, this undated sheet (approximately 9⅝ × 14⅛ inches) presents three views of a flayed male, revealing the intricate musculature beneath the skin Écorché studies like this were essential tools for artists in the 19th century, allowing them to dissect and understand anatomy firsthand, often from cadavers, to infuse their works with lifelike dynamism. Delacroix's Romantic s...
About the Artist
Eugène Delacroix · 1798–1863
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) stands as the defining figure of French Romanticism and a pivotal bridge to modernism. Born in Charenton-Saint-Maurice near Paris, he came from distinguished lineage—his mother descended from the prestigious Oeben-Riesener furniture dynasty, while persistent speculation suggested the statesman Talleyrand may have been his biological father, a theory supported by physic...