Studies for the Archangel Gabriel (recto and verso)
ca. 1645
Medium
Red and black chalk, over graphite, on light brown paper (verso, same media)
Dimensions
16 1/2 x 10 3/8 in. (41.9 x 26.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Ian Woodner Family Collection Fund, 1999
Accession Number
1999.165a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nicolas Mignard's *Studies for the Archangel (recto and verso, created around 1645, offers a captivating glimpse into the preparatory process of a 17th French artist. Both sides of this sheet feature profile views of the Archangel Gabriel a central figure in Christian iconography often depicted as the divine messenger. Mignard, a Baroque draftsman and painter trained in Rome and active in Avignon, exemplifies the era's emphasis on graceful, idealized figures influenced by classical antiquity and Italian masters like the Carracci. Executed in red and black chalk over graphite on light brown pa...