Figure Studies
c. late 1770s
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over graphite (recto), and graphite (verso), on cream laid paper
Dimensions
12 × 18.6 cm (4 3/4 × 7 3/8 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
112196
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This sheet of studies was removed from a sketchbook and shows the influence of ancient Roman sculptural reliefs. The two multi-figured scenes depict some form of ritual or sacrifice, the nature of which has not been convincingly identified. The large female figure on the left is a motif George Romney used numerous times in his society portraits, in which his subject is posed outdoors leaning on a plinth in classical dress. The vibrancy, immediacy, and rapid-fire execution of the drawing suggest...
About the Artist
George Romney · 1734–1802
George Romney (1734–1802) was a British portrait painter who, alongside Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, formed the triumvirate of great English portraitists in the second half of the eighteenth century. Born in Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, he received his early training from the itinerant portrait painter Christopher Steele before moving to London in 1762. Romney quickly establishe...