Classical Figures, after Charles Le Brun

ca. 1763

Not on view

The figures in this early study are based on ones that appear in Charles Le Brun's "Alexander's Entrance into Babylon" (Louvre). Since Britain and France were at war between 1759 and 1763, Mortimer must have worked from a painted or engraved copy. As a teenager, he became ambitious to pursue history painting in the studio of Robert Edge Pine, then drew sculptures and casts in the Duke of Richmond's Gallery and attended classes at the St. Martin's Lane Academy and Shipley's Drawing School. The style here is close to studies that Mortimer made for two early paintings "Edward the Confessor Stripping his Mother of Her Effects" (1763, Huntington Library, San Marino) and "St. Paul Preaching to the Ancient Britains" (1764, Guildhall, High Wycombe).

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Classical Figures, after Charles Le Brun
Artist: John Hamilton Mortimer (British, Eastbourne 1740–1779 London)
Artist: After Charles Le Brun (French, Paris 1619–1690 Paris)
Date: ca. 1763
Medium: Pen and pale black ink and gray wash over black chalk (recto); graphite (verso)
Dimensions: Sheet: 7 9/16 in. × 6 in. (19.2 × 15.2 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Bequest of Donald Stone, 2024
Object Number: 2024.634.2
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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