Study of a Standing Man with Headcloth and Two Studies of his Hands

Wilhelm Schadow

early to mid-19th century · Graphite, heightened with white chalk, on light brown paper · Drawings and Prints

Finely executed with a silvery graphite and gently highlighted with white chalk, this drawing presents a life study of a sacerdotal figure in a romanticized medieval headcloth. At the bottom the artist repeated an enlarged and detailed study of the figure’s hands. The figure on top was then squared in black chalk for enlargement. Schadow was a main exponent of the Nazarene movement in Germany, which was driven by an authentic admiration for the Italian Renaissance and its tradition of drawing. He was also the celebrated director of the Düsseldorfer Malerschule (Düsseldorf School of Painting) during the 1830s and 1840s.

Artist

Wilhelm Schadow

Date

early to mid-19th century

Medium

Graphite, heightened with white chalk, on light brown paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Alain and Marie-Christine van den Broek d'Obrenan Gift, 2008