Drawing from Life at the Royal Academy, Somerset House

Auguste Charles Pugin|Thomas Rowlandson|John Bluck|Rudolph Ackermann, London

January 1, 1808 · Hand-colored etching and aquatint · Drawings and Prints

Drawing from the human figure had been central to artistic training from the Italian Renaissance and, after London's Royal Academy was founded in 1768, regular life sessions were held for academicians and students. Both male and female models posed nude, but only men over the age of twenty were permitted to draw until 1898. Casts of sculptures offered another means to explore human anatomy and examples are seen here displayed on shelves around the back of the room.

Artist

Auguste Charles Pugin|Thomas Rowlandson|John Bluck|Rudolph Ackermann, London

Date

January 1, 1808

Medium

Hand-colored etching and aquatint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Henry W. Kent, transferred from the Printing Office