Cleveland Museum of Art
Charon and the Souls of the Dead
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
- Date
- c. 1858
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink and graphite on antique laid paper (recto), black chalk on antique laid paper (verso)
- Culture
- France, 19th century
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
This drawing was likely created during time that Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux spent in Rome, where he studied the work of Renaissance masters. Carpeaux was particularly influenced by Michelangelo, especially the Italian sculptor’s compositions featuring twisted bodies and stacked forms. This drawing is one of several that were created in preparation for a painting—which was never completed—of Charon, responsible for ferrying deceased souls to the world of the dead. This drawing was probably Carpeaux’s first version of the subject. In later sketches, he greatly reduced the number of figures in the composition.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
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