Lovers embracing (recto). A suppliant figure (verso)

1779

Not on view

Drawings by Jefferys were long attributed to contemporaries such as James Barry or John Hamilton Mortimer. Following the discovery of a signed work by Jefferys in an English library in the 1970s, which provided a clear example of the artist’s style, he is now recognized as the chief contributor to the "Master of the Giants Album," a dispersed group to which this sheet belongs. Jefferys’s controlled, expressive style demonstrates admiration for Italian mannerists such as Baccio Bandinelli, whom he studied in Rome during the 1770s as part of a circle centered on Henry Fuseli. The figures express intense emotions, captured in the artist’s dynamic pen work, but the context that inspired their interactions remains mysterious.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Lovers embracing (recto). A suppliant figure (verso)
Artist: James Jefferys (British, Maidstone 1751–1784 London)
Date: 1779
Medium: Pen and carbon black ink, brush and gray wash, graphite
Dimensions: Sheet: 13 3/4 × 22 in. (34.9 × 55.9 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, 2013
Object Number: 2013.145
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By James Jefferys

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) — Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

Portrait of Emma Hamilton, Angelica Kauffmann Swiss, Black and white chalk, on gray prepared paper — Portrait of Emma Hamilton
Angelica Kauffmann
Lady Emma Hamilton
1791

A Nymph dancing with a tambourine, George Romney British, Graphite and brown wash (recto); graphite (verso) — A Nymph dancing with a tambourine
George Romney
ca. 1776

Desing for a Foliate Vignette, from the so-called Scrapbook of Gideon Saint, Gideon Saint British — Desing for a Foliate Vignette, from the so-called Scrapbook of Gideon Saint
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.