Seated Gentleman
ca. 1810
Medium
Black chalk on paper squared for transfer
Dimensions
9 1/16 x 6 15/16 in. (23 x 17.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.606
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art,-Louis David's *Seated Gentleman* (. 1810) offers a glimpse into the preparatory world of one of Neoclassicism's greatest masters. David, a pivotal figure in late 18th- and early 19th-century French, championed a style rooted in ancient Greek and Roman ideals—precise, heroic, and intellectually rigorous. 1810, amid theonic era, he had transitioned from revolutionary history paintings like *The Death of Marat* to refined portraits of the elite, capturing the poised dignity of his subjects. This intimate drawing, executed in blac...
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...