Cleveland Museum of Art

François I Brandishing a Sword

Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard

Date

c. 1815–30

Medium

Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash with graphite underdrawing and white and yellow gouache heightening on wove paper

Culture

France, 19th century

Department

Drawings

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard developed a dramatic, narrative style of drawing that was well suited for illustration, and this sheet may have been one such design. Like many of his contemporaries, Fragonard was interested in modern history, focusing on important figures of the recent past. Here, he likely depicted the French king François I (1494–1547), a frequent subject of his work. Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard was the son of the famous painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, but developed a very different artistic style than his father.

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