Ecorché: Right Arm and Shoulder Blade with Right Hand Intact

1857–58

Not on view

This is the only known écorché, or flayed anatomical study, by Degas to survive. Executed on a large sheet, the drawing likely dates from the artist’s stay in Rome, as inscribed, when he produced many academic studies from nude models. This scientific exercise demonstrates the foundation of Degas’s lifelong study of the human form. The subtly modeled hand, which appears to rest casually with fingers wrapped around and draped over a support, brings a lifelike quality to the severed limb. This animated character is also found in écorchés by Eugène Delacroix, two of which Degas’s later owned (2005.247 and 2008.542).

Artwork Details

Title: Ecorché: Right Arm and Shoulder Blade with Right Hand Intact
Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date: 1857–58
Medium: Charcoal and red chalk
Dimensions: 15 x 10-1/4 in. (38.1 x 26.0 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection, in honor of Colta Ives, 2024
Object Number: 2024.591.2
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Edgar Degas

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Woman Having Her Hair Combed, Edgar Degas French, Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount — Woman Having Her Hair Combed
Edgar Degas
ca. 1886–88

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right, Leonardo da Vinci Italian, Black chalk, charcoal, and red chalk, with some traces of white chalk (?); some remains of framing lines in pen and brown ink at upper right (not by Leonardo) — The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right
Leonardo da Vinci
1510–13

The Dance Class, Edgar Degas French, Oil on canvas — The Dance Class
Edgar Degas
1874

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

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 contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.