Four Studies of Recumbent Female Nudes (Galatea)

ca. 1713

Not on view

Characterized by a striking chromatic contrast between the red chalk and the blue paper, this study was for Maratti’s late painting 'Galatea and Acis,' a mythological subject taken from Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses'. The beautiful Nereid Galatea stretches her hand toward a shell filled with corals and leans into the body of her love one, the shepherd Acis. The statuesque, reclining sea nymph is repeated three times on this large sheet: the artist drew a full study of the figure on the left and emphasized her sinuous outline and sensual pose in the two studies on the right. Currently preserved in the Far Eastern Museum at Khabarovsk (Russia), Maratti’s painting was executed at the end of the artist’s long career, around 1708-13, and just like the present sheet it was formerly treasured in the renowned collection of the Earls of Orford at Houghton Hall.

Artwork Details

Title: Four Studies of Recumbent Female Nudes (Galatea)
Artist: Carlo Maratti (Italian, Camerano 1625–1713 Rome)
Date: ca. 1713
Medium: Red chalk, touches of white chalk, on blue paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 15 3/16 × 21 7/16 in. (38.6 × 54.4 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925
Object Number: 25.62.43v
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Carlo Maratti

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Aedes Walpolianae, or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the Seat of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (Interleaved with Drawings by Isaac Ware for: The Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Chimney Pieces, and Celings of Houghton Hall in Norfolk...1735) ["The Walpole Album"], Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford British, Etching, engraving, pen and ink, brush and wash, watercolor — Aedes Walpolianae, or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the Seat of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (Interleaved with Drawings by Isaac Ware for: The Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Chimney Pieces, and Celings of Houghton Hall in Norfolk...1735) ["The Walpole Album"]
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford
1550–early 20th century

Figure of Young Man or Woman in Bust-length, in Three-Quarter View, Carlo Maratti Italian, Black chalk on gray prepared paper — Figure of Young Man or Woman in Bust-length, in Three-Quarter View
Carlo Maratti
1700–1713

Virgin and Child with St. Mary Magdalen, Carlo Maratti Italian, Etching; second state of four (Bartsch) — Virgin and Child with St. Mary Magdalen
Carlo Maratti

The Christ Child adored by angels

Carlo Maratti

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.