The Prisoner
Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
c. 1816–22
Medium
black chalk on cream laid paper
Dimensions
13.1 × 19.6 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1973.36
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
This drawing belongs to a series of enigmatic sheets that the French artist Jacques-Louis David created while living as an exile in Brussels from 1816 until his death in 1825. Many of these untitled works present close-up views of expressive heads and were given by the artist to his friends. This image of a turbaned man next to a hanging chain and oil lamp loosely references David's painting The Intercession of Saint Roch (1780) from much earlier in his career.