View of Rome (recto); A Woman's Head In Profile (verso)

baron François Gérard

ca. 1790–91 · Black chalk, brush and gray wash (recto); pen and iron gall ink (verso) · Drawings and Prints

Born in Italy to a French father and an Italian mother, Gérard studied in Paris with Jacques Louis David. After the death of his father in 1790, he returned to Rome with his family, where he stayed until 1791. It was during this period that he must have made this drawing which exhibits a strong debt to the Italian landscapes of his master. Sketched first in black chalk, presumably en plein air, and then supplemented with gray wash, the sheet uses the strong contrasts of sun and shadow to meld the varied architecture into a collage of geometric forms.

Artist

baron François Gérard

Date

ca. 1790–91

Medium

Black chalk, brush and gray wash (recto); pen and iron gall ink (verso)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Stephen A. Geiger Gift, 2021