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Source Description
Known in his own time for large-scale paintings on historical subjects, Jacques-Louis David drew avidly to plan his compositions. Late in life, however, his use of drawing changed dramatically, resulting in works such as this pair. After falling out of political favor during the French Revolution (1789–99), David moved to Brussels in exile. There, he crafted small, enigmatic drawings of close-up figures. <em>Phryne</em> features a mythological courtesan charged with blasphemy, while <em>The Prisoner</em> is vaguer, with an unidentifiable man grimacing alongside a chain and oil lamp. David embraced this uncertainty, writing at the time that “I just threw down . . . the mad ideas that came into my head.”
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
170727
label
Phryne before Her Judges
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
170727
contentType
drawing
title
Phryne before Her Judges
description
Known in his own time for large-scale paintings on historical subjects, Jacques-Louis David drew avidly to plan his compositions. Late in life, however, his use of drawing changed dramatically, resulting in works such as this pair. After falling out of political favor during the French Revolution (1789–99), David moved to Brussels in exile. There, he crafted small, enigmatic drawings of close-up figures. <em>Phryne</em> features a mythological courtesan charged with blasphemy, while <em>The Prisoner</em> is vaguer, with an unidentifiable man grimacing alongside a chain and oil lamp. David embraced this uncertainty, writing at the time that “I just threw down . . . the mad ideas that came into my head.”
date
c. 1816–20
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80079826
creators
1643
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 13.3 x 19.6 cm (5 1/4 x 7 11/16 in.)
cul
France, 19th century
accession
2013.249
Source extras
tec
black chalk on wove paper discolored to beige
tombstone
Phryne before Her Judges, c. 1816–20. Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825). Black chalk on wove paper discolored to beige; sheet: 13.3 x 19.6 cm (5 1/4 x 7 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz, 2013.249
supportMaterials
description
medium-weight, wove paper
collection
DR - French
inscriptions
inscription
inscribed, upper right, in black chalk: L. David Brux.
didYouKnow
The two male figures at center may be <em>têtes d’expression</em>, which convey emotion through pose and expression.
citations
citation
Cantaloube, A. "Les Dessins de Louis David," <em>Gazette des Beaux-Arts</em> 7 (September 1860): 285-303.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 302, no. 14
citation
David, J. L. Jules. <em>Le Peintre Louis David, 1748–1825: Souvenirs & documents inédits</em> . 2 vols. Paris: Havard, 1880.
page_number
Mentioned: vol. 1, p. 664
citation
<em>Master Drawings</em>. Exh. cat. London: Adolphe Stein, 1977.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 31
citation
Schnapper, Antoine and Arlette Sérullaz. <em>Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825</em>. Exh. Cat. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1989.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 189, 548
citation
Rosenberg, Pierre and Louis-Antoine Prat. <em>Jacques-Louis David, 1748–1825: Catalogue raisonné des dessins. </em>Milan: Leonardo Arte, 2002.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: vol. I, p. 326, no. 351
citation
Prat, Louis-Antoine. <em>Le Dessin français</em> <em>au XIXe siècle</em>. Paris: Louvre Éditions, 2012.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 65
citation
David, Jacques Louis, and Perrin Stein. Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman. 2022, 252.
page_number
Reproduced; p. 252, No. 80
citation
Stein, Perrin. <em>Jacques-Louis David: Radical Draftsman</em>, 252 (ill.), 256, no. 80. Exh. cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 256, no. 80; Reproduced: p. 252
citation
Salsbury, Britany. <em>Nineteenth-Century French Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Lewes, UK, Cleveland, Ohio: GILES; Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 80-83, no. 5a
catalogueRaisonne
Rosenberg and Prat 351
creditline
Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:45:32.869000
sourceId
170727
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
black chalk on wove paper discolored to beige
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
234f471eb65e0e0d