Study of a male nude figure, seated, with his right foot on a round block and his head thrown back. thumbnail 1
Study of a male nude figure, seated, with his right foot on a round block and his head thrown back. thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case WD, Shelf 121, Box A

Study of a male nude figure, seated, with his right foot on a round block and his head thrown back.

Drawing
ca. 1800 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Chalk drawing in black and white on grey paper showing a male nude figure seated on a block with his head thrown back


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleStudy of a male nude figure, seated, with his right foot on a round block and his head thrown back. (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Chalk drawing
Brief description
Chalk study of a seated nude male figure by John Constable ca.1800.
Physical description
Chalk drawing in black and white on grey paper showing a male nude figure seated on a block with his head thrown back
Dimensions
  • Height: 51.4cm
  • Width: 35.6cm
  • Height: 20 3/8in
  • Width: 14 1/8in
Dimensions taken from departmental notes
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'Drawn by my Father John Constable R. A. C. G. Constable' (Inscribed on the back in ink)
Gallery label
In the Academy life room, living models were often posed to resemble antique sculpture or figures from old master paintings. The model here strikes a pose derived from the prophet Jonah in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. Constable followed the curriculum at the Schools even though it had little bearing on his subsequent career as a landscape painter.
Object history
Given by the Rev. R.C. Lathom Browne
Historical context
Constable had come to London in February 1799, with a letter of introduction from Mrs. Priscilla Wakefield, the Quaker philanthropist, to Joseph Farington. (The date 1798 which has previously been accepted for this journey was derived from entries published under that year in the printed edition of Farington's Diary (Greig, Vol. I, p. 229); but they are dated 1799 in the original MS.) He entered the Academy Schools as a probationer in March 1799, and was enrolled as a student on 19 February 1800. In the summer of 1800 he stayed by himself sketching in Helmingham Park, the grounds of a seat of the Earl of Dysart.

[G Reynolds]
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceThe model's pose derives from Michelangelo's figure of the prophet Jonah on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Bibliographic references
  • Owens, Susan, The Art of Drawing British Masters and Methods since 1600, V&A Publishing, London, 2013, p. 99 & 105, fig. 78
  • G. Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum: Catalogue of the Constable Collection, 1973, pp. 37-40
Other numbers
  • E.3005-1911 - Cancelled number
  • 20 - Reynolds catalogue no.
Collection
Accession number
45-1873

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Record createdMay 15, 2009
Record URL
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