View of Rome (recto); A Woman's Head In Profile (verso)
Born in Italy to a French father and an Italian mother, Gérard studied in Paris with Jacques Louis David. After the death of his father in 1790, he returned to Rome with his family, where he stayed until 1791. It was during this period that he must have made this drawing which exhibits a strong debt to the Italian landscapes of his master.
Sketched first in black chalk, presumably en plein air, and then supplemented with gray wash, the sheet uses the strong contrasts of sun and shadow to meld the varied architecture into a collage of geometric forms.
Sketched first in black chalk, presumably en plein air, and then supplemented with gray wash, the sheet uses the strong contrasts of sun and shadow to meld the varied architecture into a collage of geometric forms.
Artwork Details
- Title: View of Rome (recto); A Woman's Head In Profile (verso)
- Artist: baron François Gérard (French, Rome 1770–1837 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1790–91
- Medium: Black chalk, brush and gray wash (recto); pen and iron gall ink (verso)
- Dimensions: 8 3/8 × 12 15/16 in. (21.3 × 32.8 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Stephen A. Geiger Gift, 2021
- Object Number: 2021.255a, b
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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