Study of Two Women Grieving

John Flaxman

before 1787 · Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash · Drawings and Prints

This delicate ink-and-wash drawing of two young women contemplating a fire relates broadly to Flaxman's tomb designs. Since the figures are fully alive and their sense of loss only implied, the work could instead respond to a literary source. During his long stay in Rome (1787–94), the artist drew sets of outline images inspired by the poetic epics of Homer and Hesiod–published as prints, these then helped to spread Neoclassicism across Europe. The refined draftsmanship here suggests a date after Flaxman returned to England and worked as a leading sculptor. The contained poses in full and partial profile, undefined background and use of monochrome all evoke sculpture–the drapery and anatomy evoke classical sources, the rhythmic outlines and attenuated proportions are more medieval.

Artist

John Flaxman

Date

before 1787

Medium

Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Catherine G. Curran, Jeffrey L. Berenson, PECO Foundation, and Susan H. Seidel Gifts, 2007