Getty Museum
Study for the figures of Venus and Cupid (recto); Study of a Male Nude (verso)
Creator
Simon VouetFrench Artist · 1590–1649
All works by this person →> In his time the art of painting began to be practiced here in a nobler and more beautiful way than ever before. > Thus wrote a contemporary about Simon Vouet. After years in Italy, Vouet catalyzed a reawakening of French art. Trained by his sign-painter father, the fourteen-year-old Vouet painted a portrait in England and accompanied France's ambassador to Constantinople in 1611. He lived in Ita
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1630–1635
- Medium
- Black chalk with white chalk
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
From this low point of view, this nude female figure draped with a cloth appears large and strong. She seems to be considering something in front of her, tilting her head sideways as she reaches out and steps forward. The putto who clings to her leg for protection also gazes off to the left. Simon Vouet experimented with the position of her outstretched arm, first drawing it in at a higher level before partially erasing it and starting again. Vouet applied black chalk in long grace strokes, describing the gentle curves of the woman's arms and body with strong outlines and subtle shading. The shading enhances the impression of mass and solidity. Dark shadows that extend backwards from the feet of both figures also contribute to the illusion of weight and mass. In the male nude on verso, Vouet drew a similarly monumental figure seen from slightly below and readjusted the position of the figure's right arm. He used the empty space between the man's legs to draw the feet, which he was unable to fit at the end of the legs.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.