About this artwork
James Jefferys’s powerful and eccentric drawing demonstrates the emotional intensity, exaggerated gesture, simplified form, and bold modeling that defined the new style forged by Henry Fuseli, whose circle Jefferys frequented when both artists lived in Rome in the 1770s.
While the exact subject of the drawing is obscure, it appears that the two dead youths are being carried by their companions to a funeral pyre. An almost obsessive use of vertical ink hatching reminiscent of printmaking (in which Jefferys was trained) is accompanied by broad passages of brown wash to establish location and mood. While the artist occasionally uses light brown wash for modeling, for the most part the flesh of his strongly outlined nude figures is defined by the untouched cream-colored paper.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- James Jefferys
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Title
- Nude Male Figures Bearing the Bodies of their Dead Companions
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Place
- England (Object made in)
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Date
- 1774–1784
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Medium
- Pen and black ink and brush and reddish-brown wash on cream laid paper
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Inscriptions
- Inscribed verso lower right, in pen and brown ink: “91” (?)
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Dimensions
- 35.5 × 56.4 cm (14 × 22 1/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- The Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Endowment Fund
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Reference Number
- 2017.197
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/238624/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
