Pericles Attends the Lectures of Aspasia
1790–1800
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/4 × 4 3/8 in. (8.3 × 11.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Spencer Bickerton, 1933
Accession Number
33.69.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
Edward Francis Burney’s delicate drawing captures a moment of intellectual exchange in ancient Athens. Created between 1790 and 1800 with pen and brown ink and gray wash, the small sheet (just over four inches wide) depicts the Athenian statesman Pericles listening attentively as Aspasia delivers a lecture. The intimate interior setting, suggested by simple architectural lines and clustered figures, emphasizes conversation over spectacle, reflecting the Enlightenment-era fascination with classical models of education and civic life. Burney, a British draftsman known for his illustrative work,...
About the Artist
Edward Francis Burney · 1760–1848
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