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Ecorché: The Backs of Two Seated Figures

Not on view
An essential component of artistic training and one Delacroix’s teacher Guérin particularly encouraged, the écorché—or flayed anatomical drawing—familiarized students with the underlying structures of the body. Artists examined and made drawings based on illustrated treatises on anatomy, sculptural models, and actual cadavers, all in the pursuit of accurately representing the human form. The uncanny animation of the two figures in this example emphasizes the relationship between movement and musculature.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ecorché: The Backs of Two Seated Figures
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Medium: Red and black fabricated chalk
  • Dimensions: sheet: 11 5/8 x 18 7/16 in. (29.6 x 46.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2024
  • Object Number: 2024.591.54
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Abduction of Rebecca, Eugène Delacroix French, Oil on canvas
The Abduction of Rebecca
Eugène Delacroix
1846
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso), Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia) Italian, Pen and brown ink, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (recto); pen and brown ink, brush with touches of brown wash, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (verso)
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso)
Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia)
1435–38
Sunset, Eugène Delacroix French, Pastel on blue laid paper
Sunset
Eugène Delacroix
ca. 1850
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, Lithograph printed in four colors; three sheets of wove paper
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Printer Affiches Américaines, Charles Lévy
1891

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