The Benediction
ca.1760
Medium
Red and black chalk, touches of brush and gray wash
Dimensions
sheet: 16 7/16 x 13 1/8 in. (41.8 x 33.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Thomas Williams and Stephen A. Geiger Gifts, 2010
Accession Number
2010.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jacques André Portail’s *The Benediction*, created around 1760, offers a tender glimpse into a moment of shared prayer. The drawing depicts men in quiet devotion, their gestures conveying humility and spiritual focus. Such religious subjects remained deeply resonant in mid-eighteenth-century Europe, even as Enlightenment ideas began to shape cultural life. Portail worked with remarkable sensitivity in red and black chalk, accented by touches of gray wash. This combination of media allowed him to model forms softly while creating subtle contrasts of light and shadow that heighten the scene’s i...