Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots
After winning acceptance at the Académie Royale, Fragonard was commissioned by the crown to produce a pendant for his painting Coresus and Callirhoë (1765). No such painting was ever completed, but certain studies, including this one, of subjects from ancient history suggest that he may have begun the design process.
The subject here seems to be the young women of ancient Athens drawing lots to determine which of them will be offered as sacrifices to the half-human, half-bull Minotaur to appease the king of Crete. Mixing watercolor with moody gray wash, Fragonard created one of his most spectacular drawings, using the billowing storm clouds as a foil against which a starkly lit young victim collapses in a swoon as the white piece of paper that foretells her unlucky fate slips from her fingers.
The subject here seems to be the young women of ancient Athens drawing lots to determine which of them will be offered as sacrifices to the half-human, half-bull Minotaur to appease the king of Crete. Mixing watercolor with moody gray wash, Fragonard created one of his most spectacular drawings, using the billowing storm clouds as a foil against which a starkly lit young victim collapses in a swoon as the white piece of paper that foretells her unlucky fate slips from her fingers.
Artwork Details
- Title: Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots
- Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1765–66
- Medium: Brown and gray wash with red, yellow, and blue watercolor over black chalk underdrawing
- Dimensions: 13 3/16 × 17 3/8 in. (33.5 × 44.2 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Promised Gift of Martha L and David T Schiff, in memory of Mortimer L Schiff
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Returned to lender
Jean Honoré Fragonard
1765 or later
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
Jean Honoré Fragonard
Johann Liss
1763–64
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
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