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Study for a male figure in "Comus–The Measure" (recto); Reclining male nude (verso)

Subject Relates to John Milton British
before 1864
Not on view
The study of a muscular male nude on the recto of this sheet relates to Richmond’s painting "Comus" exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1864 (now Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). The story, told in Milton's masque-poem, concerns a girl separated from her brothers in a dark wood who encounters the reveler Comus and his band of followers. A figure based on this drawing appears near the center of the final composition, and Richmond likely based the pose on a figure in Titian’s painting "The Andrians" (Prado, Madrid).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study for a male figure in "Comus–The Measure" (recto); Reclining male nude (verso)
  • Artist: George Richmond (British, Brompton 1809–1896 London)
  • Subject: Relates to John Milton (British, London 1608–1674 London)
  • Date: before 1864
  • Medium: Black chalk
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 11 7/16 × 8 3/4 in. (29 × 22.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.81
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Portrait of two children, George Richmond British, Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) with touches of gum and gold, on yellow paper
Portrait of two children
George Richmond
1837
Compositional Study for "Comus–The Measure" (recto); Studies of a Man's Right Leg, after Titian, and a Profile, for "Comus–The Measure" (verso), George Richmond British, Black chalk
Compositional Study for "Comus–The Measure" (recto); Studies of a Man's Right Leg, after Titian, and a Profile, for "Comus–The Measure" (verso)
Multiple artists/makers
before 1864
"Jocund Day Stands Tip Toe on the Misty Mountain Tops" (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5), George Richmond British, Graphite
"Jocund Day Stands Tip Toe on the Misty Mountain Tops" (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5)
George Richmond
William Shakespeare
ca. 1830
Landscape at Margate, George Richmond British, Black chalk
Landscape at Margate
George Richmond
1840–60 (?)
Burdock, George Richmond British, Black and white chalk on blue-gray paper
Burdock
George Richmond
1820–90

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