Écorché: Three Studies of a Male Cadaver
Eugène Delacroix French
Not on view
On this sheet, owned at one time by the nineteenth-century French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Delacroix sketched a torso from two slightly different angles in two distinct densities of graphite. To the left, in ink, he included the head, mouth agape, and an arm hanging perpendicularly, its limpness a reminder of the force of gravity on a dead body. Whether working in graphite, ink, or black or red chalk, Delacroix organized the parallel strokes in his écorché drawings in a way that evocatively conveys the sinewy texture of exposed muscle and tissue.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.