Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots

Jean Honoré Fragonard French

Not on view

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.

Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Brown and gray wash with red, yellow, and blue watercolor over black chalk underdrawing

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Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Brown and gray wash with red, yellow, and blue watercolor over black chalk underdrawing
Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Brown and gray wash with red, yellow, and blue watercolor over black chalk underdrawing
Young Athenian Women Drawing Lots, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Brown and gray wash with red, yellow, and blue watercolor over black chalk underdrawing

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