Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)
Medium
Counterproof or tracing strengthened with graphite and gouache on translucent paper
Dimensions
9 7/16 x 7 5/16 in. (24 x 18.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Grace Rainey Rogers, 1943
Accession Number
43.85.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this intimate portrait drawing, Jean-Auguste-Dominique In captures the legendary violin virtuoso Niccolò Pagan around 1830. Paganini (1782–1840), the Italian musician whose dazzling technique and showmanship made him a Romantic-era superstar, is depicted with his instrument, embodying the era's fascination with artistic genius. Ingres, a leading Neoclassicist renowned for his precise line work and psychological insight in portraits, here immortalizes a fellow master of expression—Paganini's playing was so extraordinary that rumors swirled of pacts with the devil. Created as a counterproof ...
About the Artist
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres|Niccolò Paganini · 1780–1867
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was born on 29 August 1780 in Montauban, in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of southern France, into a family with deep artistic and musical connections — his father was a painter, sculptor, and musician. He showed exceptional promise from childhood, enrolling at the Académie Royale in Toulouse where he studied under the sculptor Jean-Pierre Vigan, the landscape painter Je...