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Compare the two bands of figures, which read like carved stone friezes, with the woman at the left, built from a few broad sweeps of brown wash.
This small sheet from one of George Romney’s sketchbooks holds two crowded friezes and a tall woman in classical dress. The Art Institute of Chicago links the friezes, whose ritual has not been identified, to ancient Roman reliefs, and notes that the woman recurs in his society portraits. Its quick, sure handling suggests he drew it after his stay in Italy from 1773 to 1775.
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over graphite (recto), and graphite (verso), on cream laid paper · 12 × 18.6 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Neoclassicism
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Figure Studies
- Artist
- George Romney English, 1734-1802
- Date
- c. late 1770s
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over graphite (recto), and graphite (verso), on cream laid paper
- Dimensions
- 12 × 18.6 cm (4 3/4 × 7 3/8 in.)
- Credit line
- The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.