Hermaphrodite
ca. 1780 or ca. 1810
Medium
Black chalk on paper
Dimensions
5 1/2 x 8 5/16 in. (14 x 21.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.605
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art lies a delicate black chalk drawing titled *Hermaphrodite*, created the master Neoclassicist Jacques-Louis around 1780 or possibly 1810. Measuring just 5½ x 8⅜ inches, this intimate study on paper captures the artist's precise hand in rendering the mythical figure of Hermaphroditus—born of Hermes and Aphrodite, embodying fluid gender and beauty from ancient Greek lore. David's use of black chalk allowed for subtle tonal modeling and soft contours, a technique favored for exploratory sketches that bridged his grand history painti...
About the Artist
Jacques Louis David · 1748–1825
Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), born in Paris on August 30 to a prosperous family, faced early tragedy when his father was killed in a duel around age nine. Raised by his mother's two architect uncles after his mother departed, David overcame family resistance to architecture and a facial tumor that hindered his speech and studies at the Collège des Quatre-Nations. He began training under the Roc...