Head of a Young Man Sleeping

Former Attribution Pierre Narcisse Guérin French

ca. 1784–85

Not on view

This recently discovered sheet is by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, a successful painter with a large studio who became the chief rival of Jacques Louis David. It depicts the sleeping head of a young man and was a study for the figure of Cupid in Regnault's painting, Cupid and Psyche, exhibited in the Salon of 1785 (today in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Angers, Inv. MBA J150).

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Head of a Young Man Sleeping
Artist: Jean-Baptiste Regnault (French, Paris 1754–1829 Paris)
Former Attribution: Pierre Narcisse Guérin (French, Paris 1774–1833 Rome)
Date: ca. 1784–85
Medium: Black chalk and stumping, heightened with white chalk and pastel, on blue paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 9 13/16 × 13 3/8 in. (25 × 34 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Stephen A. Geiger Gift, 2025
Object Number: 2025.325
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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