Study for The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons
ca. 1788
Medium
Black chalk and brown ink on paper
Dimensions
9 7/16 x 12 1/8 in. (23.9 x 30.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.607
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing, *Study for The Lictors Bringing Brutus Bodies of his Sons*ca. 1788), by Jacques-Louis David, offers a poignant glimpse into the preparatory process for one of the artist's most iconic Neoclassical masterpieces. Created in black chalk and brown ink on, it captures human figures in a moment of profound sadness,oking the ancient Roman story of Lucius Junius Brutus As a founder of the Roman Republic, Brutus ordered the execution of his own sons for plotting against it, a tale of stern civic duty over paternal love that resonated deeply in late 18th-century France. David, a ...
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...