Charles

Bargue
with the collaboration of

Jean-Leon
Gerome

DRAWING
COURSE

Geraia M AcKerman
 CONTENTS

8 Preface and Acknowledgements

10 Introduction

The History of the Drawing Course, p. 10; Public Controversy over Teaching
Materials, p. 12; Coupil Proposes a Solution, p. 13; The Organization of the
Drawing Course, p. 16

18 PART I: DRAWING AFTER CASTS

(MODELES D'APRES LA BOSSE)
Introduction, p. 18; Practical Matters: Using the Plates as Models to Copy,
p. 22; The Schemata or Plans, p. 22; Materials, p. 23; Drawing Terms, p. 23;
Suggestions for Copying the Plates, p. 24; Valuesand Modeling p. 25;
Procedure for Modeling p. 26; Finishing the Drawing p. 27; Notes on the
98
Plates, p.

128 PART II: COPYING MASTER DRAWINGS

MODELES D'APRES LES MAITRES)
(,

and Academic Drawing p. 129;

Introduction, p. 128; Realism, Idealism,
Practical Matters, p. 131; On
Choosing a Master Drawing to Copy: The
Benefits of Copying Down to Copying p. 132; A Note
p. 131; Getting
About the Drawings by Hans Holbein the Younger, p. 133; Notes on the
Plates, p. 168

180 PART III: PREPARATION FOR DRAWING ACADEMIES

(EXERCICES AU FUSAIN POUR PREPARER
A L'ETUDE DE L'ACADEMIE D'APRES NATURE)

Introduction, p. 180; Ancient Sculpture as the Model of True

Beauty: The Prevalence of Male Models, p. 181; Practical Matters:
Copying the Drawings, p. 183; Some Notes on Bargue's Style, p. 184;
A Repertoire of Traditional Poses, p. 185; Notes on the Plates, p. 240
252 CHARLES BARCUE, THE ARTIST
Introduction, p. 252; Bargue's Early Career, p. 252; From Craftsman to
Artist: Bargue's Early Development, p. 256; Bargue and Goupil & Cie,

p. 260; Coupil’s Reductions, p. 263; The Drawing Course, p. 264; Bargue's

Work During the 1 870s, p. 265; A Possible Voyage to the Near East:
Baigue's First Orientalist Painting?, p. 266; A Rococo Theme: The Artist and
HisModel of 1874, p. 272; Compositional Experiments, p. 274; The Artist
and His Model of 1878, p. 274; Mosque Scenes, p. 275; A Bashi-Bazouk
and Some Albanians, p. 275; Bargue's Final Five Years, 1878-83, p. 276;
Two Chess Carnes, p. 277; Bargue's Death, p. 280

282 A Preliminary Catalogue of Bargue's Paintings

312 Drawings by Bargue Reproduced in This Study

316 Appendix 1 : The Goupil Brochure: On Models for Drawing Classes

318 Appendix 2: The Sight-Size Technique

An Experienced Artist and Teacher Defines the Sight-Size Technique,

p. 318; Using Sight-Size to Copy the Bargue Plates, p. 318; How Old Is the
Technique?, p. 318; Necessary Conditions for Sight-Size Practice, p. 319;
Excursus: Shadow Drawing after a Cast: Positioning the
Boxes, p. 320;
Drawing, p. 320; Drawing after a Cast: Measuring Apparent Distances,
p. 322; Drawing after Flat Models: Bargue's Plates, p. 322; Pros and Cons
Concerning the Sight-Size Technique: A Dialogue, p. 323

326 Appendix 3: A 1926 Article on Bargue's Drawings (in facsimile)

328 Glossary of Technical Terms

330 Notes

336 Photographic credits

 Preface and Acknowledgments

his book is dedicated to Daniel Graves for several technical matters of the most elementary sort—-for instance, how

years
T old—we
gpod reasons, the most important being that he was
the instigator, facilitator,

From the beginnings of our friendship

talked about republishing the
Drawing Course. The only complete
and mentor

known
for the

—some
Bargue-Gerome
book.
thirty
to sharpen
silence

By all

suddenly being
my chalk, or how to place my easel. The moments of
and discussion among the students were equally inspiring.
accounts a hardened
initiated into
art historian

how artists
and theoretician,

worked, thought, and

I was

set to us at the time saw. Following my initiation period, Daniel and Charles spent
was in the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, several evenings going over the plates of the Drawing Course with
London. Eventually both Mark Walker, the late and lamented me. I made notations on one of the first portable computers. The
scholar of Bouguereau, and Daniel separately photographed the notes I took then became the foundation of the commentaries in
plates of the Drawing Course, and prints from their negatives were this book. So, Dan, here is your book. Charles, I hope you find it

soon circulating among a small group of artists. I enumerated to useful, too. You may both find it difficult to recognize your own
Daniel the difficulties in doing a new edition: the course had no words through the multitudinous revisions of the text, but it is

text, and although it was self-evident that these were beautiful their spirit and your teachings about how to look at the drawings
drawings— inspiring and exemplary models that any figurative thatanimate most of the text.
artist would prize and want to copy— as an art historian and not I The writing of several books already under way prevented my
a trained artist found it hard to imagine my writing an explanation immediate return to Florence and my resumption of the study
of the plates and their use. of drawing. Nonetheless, I continued to draw in studio classes in
After Daniel and Charles Cecil had opened their atelier in the schools where I taught in the United Slates, and I also drew
Florence, Daniel was able to make me the following offer: "Come —most informally —with several groups of professional artists in
to Florence and study in our atelier. can't make an artist out of
I Los Angeles, who patiently accepted my amateur standing while
you, but I can teach you how to draw, and I can help you write I learned more about their working habits. My gratitude here to
the commentary for the plates." My first semester at the school sculptors John Frame and Judy Debrowsky, whose studios served
was the bat was given a plumb line, an easel,
in 1 983. Right off I as the sites for these weekly meetings.
a cast of a foot in ashadow box, and was shown the rudiments In 1996 went back to
I Florence, and for five years thereafter
of the sight-size technique. was soon confronted by a model,
I I spent a winter or spring semester at the Florence Academy. I

whom approached with my plumb line and chalk and the bit
I
&ive several lectures — usually on great academic masters—and
of experience I had gained in drawing the foot. Both Daniel and continued as a student, drawing academies in the mornings and
Charles—to whom I owe infinite thanks — treated me seriously as working from casts or copying Bargue drawings in the afternoon.
a 'prospective artist." Both of them enjoyed the fact that I had At the academy was aided by many splendid artists who daily,
I

had no previous training and consequently had little to unlearn. in turn, criticized —
my work Charles Weed, Maureen Hyde,
Each day they looked at my work, discussed it with me, criticized Simona Dolci, Kevin Gorges, Angelo Ramirez Sanchez, Andrea
it, encouraged me, and pushed me along to the next step. It Smith, among others — all of whom were patient, aware of my
was a type of personal instruction I had never experienced and, intentions and abilities, as well as my limitations. The ideas,
sad to say, had never practiced in my teaching career. I was in a methods, and sometimes even the very words of these teachers
room with a dozen other students, and they, l<x>, hel|x-d me with have worked their way into this book. I borrowed shamelessly:
from Kevin Gorges's discussions about what one learned from in Paris and by Eric Zafran and DeCourcy E. McIntosh in the
copying master drawings; from Charies Weed's critiques about United States. In Cincinnati John Wilson did detective work into
the underlying reasons for using certain techniques; from the the history of the Cincinnati Art Museum for me. The London and
precise and thoughtful instructions of Simona Dolci and Maureen New York staffs of the auction houses Christie's and Sotheby’s
Hyde about the necessity of self-criticism and "getting it right." were generous with their time and always responsive in locating

Among my student companions, a special acknowledgment must information and illustrations for the book. The administration
be given to Polly Liu, who always knew how to help out in a and staff of the Goupil Museum in Bordeaux—in particular
pinch. Helene Lafont-Couturier and Pienrre-Lin Renie were of crucial —
These ideas, comments, and suggestions were all augmented importance in terms of the physical production of the book.
and revised by me
to give the text a consistency of voice and They supplied illustrations and information requested at a
I

method. Here was helped by my assistant, Graydon Parrish, an

I pestiferous rale and arranged for the photographing of the plates
artist of great learning and intelligence, who regularly gave up of the Drawing Course from the two complete sets owned by
months of his valuable studio time to sit beside me and go over the museum. Sylvie Aubenas and her staff at the BiWiotheque
every paragraph of the book. He contributed whole passages nationale in Paris found photographs of lost paintings by
to the technical sections as well as drawing illustrations for the Bargue in obscure locations within the library. The staffs at the
appendix; he constantly checked or questioned my vocabulary Huntington Library in San Marino and the Getty Research Center
and helped to consolidate my various notes for the plates. We in Los Angeles, California, were especially helpful; in particular,
worked very closely, and he criticized and helped with all parts of I want to thank Linda Zechler at the first institution and Mark
the book. We often disagreed but, needless to say, our friendship Henderson at the second. To the countless other librarians,
has survived intact. registrars, curators, and collectors who in one way or another
Many artists among my friends were interested in the project; added to the information, richness, and accuracy of this book
a small —
number |on Swihart, Kevin Gorges, Peter Bougie, Tom I extend my thanks and gratitude for your cheerful assistance.
Knechtel, and Wes Christensen— read the manuscript in its Curators at museums in England and the United States have
penultimate stage and offered intelligent criticism. Many other done valiant work for me. The staff of the Dahesh Museum
artists, eager to see the Drawing Course published and to give it of Art—associate director Michael Fahlund, curator Stephen
have encouraged me through the years. thank
to their students, I Edidin, associate curator Roger Diederen, and curatorial research
them My friends in Minneapolis—especially Annette tesueur
all. assistant Frank Vbrpoorten —has provided unflagging assistance
and Peter Bougie—sustained and encouraged me during the long and advice both as colleagues and good friends. Last but not
travail. least. Monsieur and Madame Ahmed Rafif, my publishers, have

I was also aided by my academic colleagues, dealers, and given me the wonderful support and leeway that I have enjoyed
collectors. My colleague Frances Rohl carefully read through the for twenty years. It was Monsieur Rafif's genial and generous idea
final draft. The most wonderful example of how art historians to add the catalogue of Bargue's paintings to this edition of the
work together isexemplified in the section of this book on Drawing Course. Above all, thanks to my partner, Leonard Simon,
Baigue's death: documents of great importance were discovered for his patience throughout the writing and production of another
and forwarded to me by Madeleine Beaufort and Judith Schubb

9
 The History of the Drawing Course

he Bargue-Gerome Drawing Course (Cours de dessin), reproduced here in its entirely,

Introduction

of
T
difficulty.'

draw from
is a famous and fabled publication of the late nineteenth century. Divided into three

parts, it contains 197 loose-leaf lithographic plates of precise drawings after casts,

master drawing, and male models, all arranged in a somewhat progressive degree
The course was designed to prepare beginning art students copying these plates to
nature, that is, from objects, both natural and man-made, in the real world. Like the
curriculum of the nineteenth-century Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Raris, whose ideals it shared, it was
designed so that the student using it could eventually choose to render nature in both idealistic

and realistic fashions. When the Drawing Course was published in the late 1860s, it was still

generally assumed that the was the principal goal of the artist, and that the most
imitation of nature
important subject for the artist was the human body. The expression of the subject depicted had
not yet been replaced by self-expression.
Despite being both rare and arcane today, the Bargue-Gerome Drawing Course is one of the
most significant documents of the last great flowering of figure painting in western art, which
took place in the late nineteenth century. The present complete new edition will serve to instruct
contemporary students in figure drawing, to present an important nineteenth-century document
to historians, and to edify the general art-loving public, collectors, and amateurs.
The plates in the Drawing Course are modeles, which in English would be translated as -good
examples to copy." The course follows the established routine in nineteenth-century art schools
by beginning with the copying of plaster casts, proceeding to master drawings, and finishing with
nude male models (academies). Since this tripartite division of activities was taken for granted in
the curricula of the time, the plates were issued without instructions. Relying on the expertise of
contemporary teachers and practitioners of academic figure drawing, the present editors have
tried to indicate how these plates might be taught in classes and used by individual students today.
Throughout, every attempt has been made to explain nineteenth-century drawing theory anti
practice.

The present book also introduces the figure of Charles Bargue (1 826/27-1 883), a lithographer
and painter known now only to a small group of connoisseurs, collectors, and art students. An
attempt has been made to clear his life of legend and to write a biography based upon the scant
surviving evidence. His painted oeuvre is small, and only about fifty titles have been recorded. Of
those, only half have been located, most of which are in private collections. His Drawing Course is

known to only a few through stray and scattered surviving sheets and from the hitherto only known
complete set of the Drawing Course in the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum,
London. |n 1991 two further complete sets were made public as a result of the founding of the
Mus6e Coupil in Bordeaux. The plates reproduced in this book were selected from these two sets.-

To make the introduction to Bargue more complete, an illustrated and annotated listing of all his
known paintings has been included as well.
The first two sections of the Drawing Course were intended for use in the French schools of
design, or commercial and decorative art schools. It was believed that in order to produce articles
of commerce and industry that could compete on the international market, designers of utilitarian
objects would benefit from knowing the guiding principles of good taste. (This was the argument
in the brochure issued by Coupii & Cie to advertise the course On Models for Drawing |Des
modeles de dessinl; see appendix 1 for an English translation of the text). Good taste, or le grand

gout, was based on classical form, which was defined by the rarefied style of antique statuary.
The combination of good taste and the study of nature resulted in le beau ideal— the rendering
of nature in its most perfect manifestation —sometimes referred to more specifically as /a belle
nature.

The third section on drawing after live models, by contrast, was issued for use in art academies.
Drawing after live models was discouraged or even prohibited in European and American schools
of design, that is, in schools of commercial or applied arts, and was only seldom and reluctantly
included in their curricula; it was strongly felt in the artistic establishment that commercial artists

should not be encouraged to develop aspirations or pretensions beyond their perceived abilities.'

The academies of the third part are examples of how the Neoclassicism of the early-nineteenth-
century academy was revised by the new interests of the Realist movement. The Realists did not
generalize their figures; personal traits—even ugly ones —are observed and recorded. Batgue's
presentation of the male nude, although realistic, is always graceful and often noble.
The course sold well for at least three decades, including several large printings for various
institutions in England as well as France. Individual plates were still sold by Goupil & Cie and its
various successors until the dissolution of the firm in 1911. The lithographs were evidently worn
out by use;some older art schools still have a few surviving relics of the set, usually framed and
hung on the studio walls as examples of nineteenth-century assiduity.
The teaching of traditional academic practices almost died out between 1 880 and 1 950, as the
number of academically trained instructors gradually diminished. This decline was concurrent with
a shift in emphasis from an objective imitation of nature to a subjective reaction to the world, or
even to the abstract qualities of art itself. This was a major revolution in art theory. Since antiquity
Aristotle's definition of art as mimesis* or the imitation of nature, had dominated Western thought
and practice. Before the 1880s "expression" meant the emotion or meaning conveyed by the
subject—the person or thing depicted—not the emotional state of the artist, as in today’s "self-
expression."
The Drawing Course reveals what Ihe last generations of traditionally trained representational
artistswere taught to copy and admire. Scholars investigating artists trained between the Franco-
Prussian War and Worid War I will find that this book helps them understand the training and early
work of their subjects. It is well known, for example, that Vincent van Gogh worked independently
through the course more than once, and 1
that Picasso copied Bargue plates at the Barcelona
Academy/ Many early drawings by artists of this generation thought to be drawn from life may, in
fact, be copies after the models in the Bargue-Gerome Drawing Course.

Today most art schools have dispensed with teaching drawing after plaster casts as an integral
part of learning how to draw; and the modem life dass differs greatly from the academic life

class. Whereas the earlier training emphasized accuracy, solidity, and finish, modern instrudion
emphasizes gesture and self-expression, which often results in a nonacademic exaggeration of
forms. Earlier the model held one pose for many hours, even weeks; modem life-drawing poses
are very short; an hour is considered in many studios to be a bng pose.
 Many modern teachers and practitioners believe high finish is mechanical and inimical to self-

expression. Furthermore, the modem teaching of anatomy is cursory. Modem drawing classes
neglect the organic structure and unity of the model.' Students in drawing classes are allowed
to draw approximate sections of bodies and to accept multiple test lines and accidents without
correcting or erasing them. A persistent modem view holds that there are no mistakes in a work of
art. The only criterion is the artist’s intention.
By contrast, a good academic drawing— today as century—should be
in the nineteenth

accurate and finished, concerned with organic unity, and devoid of superfluous details. Careful
academic practices not only develop patience but also train the student to see mistakes and correct
them. In addition, academic theory urges the student to make continuous reference to nature in
order to avoid excessive personal expression or mannerisms (maniera). The human figure is viewed
and painted with respect, without detachment or a sardonic air of superiority on the part of the
artist. The academic tradition exalts the human body.

Public Controversy Over Teaching Materials

The catalyst of the Bargue-C^rome Drawing Course was an official controversy about how best
to teach drawing to French students of design and industry. A Parisian exhibition of student work
in 1865 by the Central Union of Applied Arts (Union centrale des Beaux-Arts appliques) caused
much consternation. Eight thousand drawings and sculptures by students from the art departments
of 239 public educational institutions had been put on display; officials and critics were united in
decrying the exhibits as very poor in quality. Since early drawing education in the industrial and
decorative art schools consisted mainly of copying after prints or casts, the general conclusion was
that they had been given poor models.
At the exhibition's awards ceremony the sculptor Eugene Guillaume (1822-1905), director of
the £cole des Beaux-Arts, verbalized his colleagues' dissatisfaction: "The main ingredient of art is

taste. On this account, we are afflicted by the weakness of the models that are called upon to
develop it. To place before the eyes of beginners in our schools examples devoid of all ennobling
sentiments,’ to have copied engravings and lithographs of a false style, of incorrect drawing,
of schematic method — this amounts to the corruption of the taste of the nation; it makes the
development of vocations impossible. These fundamentals of (art] instruction must be rigorously
reformed.""
Ernest Chesneau (1833-1890), an art critic who became an inspector of fine arts in 1869,
delved further into the problem in a series of articles published in le Consitutionnel. Allhough
he, too, expressed his unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the works on display, he saw a silver

|T|he great benefit of this exhibition will be its having opened the most obstinately
closed eyes: of forcing the opinion of a few to become the general opinion; of lending,
we hope, to a complete reorganization of the teaching of drawing. A reform as
radical as this. I can’t deny, is very difficult to achieve, but it has become absolutely

necessary after the lamentable spectacle that offered us under the pretext of —
drawing— a ran of over a thousand meters ... of everything that black and white
together could create of inept, ridiculous, and poverty-stricken forms, deprived, with
practically no exceptions, not only of any of the feelings of art but also distant from
any resemblance, from any shadow of the foundations of the science of drawing:
accuracy, life, beauty. The lack of models! that is the dominant cry among the
. . .

’
complaints provoked by the examination of the exhibition
 " .

As an official reaction to the complaints of Guillaume, Chesneau, and others, the Ministre de
I'Education Publique formed a committee to review available models.

Goupil Proposes a Solution

The demand for better models presented an opportunity that the publishing house of Goupil
& Ge could not ignore. In 1868 it published a handsome twelve-page brochure in small quarto
entitled On Models for Drawing (Des modeles de dessin). With the self-righteous tone of an official
government proclamation, the brochure pompously advertised the Bargue-GSrdme Drawing
Course, which was already in print, more than half the plates having been released:

All the pattern books were passed in review |by a commission

known models and
specifically appointed for this purpose): but these models, for the most part, were
exactly those that M. Guillaume had just denounced as corrupters of taste
Thus left to individual initiative to solve the problem. Men of taste and
it was
learning applied themselves and a certain number of good models have been
published. The Maison Goupil could not remain a stranger to an effort having
. . .

as its object the response to such a high degree of contemporary concern: it. too, set
to work, and with the aid of some practical men it has designed a program whose
execution has been entrusted to some distinguished artists. . .

Monsieur Charles Bargue. with the association of Monsieur Gerome, Member of

the Institute, was put in charge of the models for drawing the figure.
In the choice and execution of these models no concessions were made to the
pretty" or to the pleasant: their severity will doubtlessly discourage false vocations:
1

they will certainly repulse those who think of drawing as an accessory study, a
pleasant pastime: thus, it is not to such students that these are offered, but to those
who seriously wish to be artists.

The Drawing Course was not unique; there were many others on the market. ' Around 1860,
1

example, Bemard-Romain lulien (1 802-1 871 ) had published his own course. It was designed
1

for

for use in the public schools of France, a fact proudly declared on the title page. It parallels the
it

Bargue-Cerome course by beginning with details of the face and proceeding to full views of anti-
que statuary. The plates are in a refined, linear. Neoclassical style, yet they might have been the
very models against which Chesneau and the committee had reacted. It is hard to see the beautiful
lulien plates as "debased," but their elaborately stylized refinement might have made them imprac-
tical models for the teaching of basic drawing skills.

lulien's drawing of a head, possibly a Diana (fig 1 ), would be bewildering to a beginning student,
and the schematic view to the right would not be very helpful. The delineation of the profile

between the forehead and nose is subtle, with almost invisible modulations. The hair is complex
and would discourage a novice. Furthermore, the dexterous cross-hatching could only be achieved
with years of practice. The frontal, diffused lighting supports the clarity of the Neoclassical style
but offers no indication of the underlying structure of the head, something needed by students
with little experience of anatomy. Bargue, on the other hand, offered dues on how to manage
the essential forms of the head and espoused a method to make long, modulated lines easier to

manage by abstracting complicated curvilinear outlines into straight lines and angles.

Another julien plate (fig 2) depicts the head of the Roman empress Faustina, after a cast also

used by Bargue, albeit viewed from another angle (plate 1, 43). The lulien drawing omits the back
of the head. The lack of a complete outline could lead to errors in the placement of the interior
 fig- 2.
features. (Bargue depicts the entire cast first as a simple outline of points, lines,
Ju'ten. fawtt*. Lithograph.
and angles, making it something measurable.) Julien has drawn the profile of
x cm ‘ x in '
the nose with a straight line, and the hair has been reduced to the demarcation

of simplified shadows, with just a few lines. Bargue profits from direct, focused
overhead lighting, giving a sense of presence to the figure and revealing the
sitter's age. )ulien's penchant for frontal lighting underplays the structure and
character of his models.
A direct comparison of the Homer (Homire) by Julien" (fig 3) and the one by
Bargue (fig. 4) more clearly reveals the different approaches of the two courses.
In both the drawing is excellent, tight and accurate. However, the proliferation of

hatching in Julien's example confuses the relationships of the various volumes of

the face. Bargue works tonally, logically progressing from light to dark. The result

is a greater range of value from black to white, providing more drama, unity, and
volume. It's almost as if Julien were emphasizing the decorative aspects of the
antique bust as opposed to Bargue's stress on the sculptural qualities.
 The Organization
of the Drawing Course

In the Goupil catalogue of 1868 the Drawing

Course was announced as Models and Selected Works
for the Teaching of the Arts of Design and for Their

Application to Industry (Modules et ouvrages sptxiaux

pour I'enseignement des arts du dessin et pour leur

application i I'induslrie). The first part was already in

print; the second part, Models after Masters of All Periods

and All Schools (Modules d'apres les maitres de toutes les
epoques et de toutes les ecoles) was in progress.

The first part. Models after Casts (Modeles d'apres la

bosse)," consisted of seventy plates and was described

as "in itself a basic and [systematically] progressive course
with the purpose of giving the student the capacity to
draw a complete academic figure." The publishers were
proud that "hardly had the first plates of the [first part of

the) course been finished when the city of Paris ordered

a special printing for the city schools, and in England
the course was adapted by the numerous (educational)
institutions supervised by the South Kensington
Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum)." In

many instances the Bargue-Gerome course must have

replaced the Julien course.
The brochure vaunts the selection of drawings for the
second part: "These models were intended to develop
in the soul of the students a feeling and taste for the
beautiful, through familiarizing them with creations of a
pure and noble style as well as with healthy and vigorous
transcriptions of nature" (see appendix 1 ). It would be
completed in 1 870 as a set of sixty lithographs by Bargue

alter renowned old and modern masters.

The third part. Charcoal Exercises in Preparation for

Drawing the Male Academic Nude (Exercices au fusain

pour preparer i l'4tude de I'acad&nie d’apres nature),

contained sixty plates and was completed in 1873. It

was not mentioned in the brochure of 1 868, and when

it was published, it had only Bargue's name on the

Fig. 3.

B.-R. lulien. Homer. (HomereJ Lithograph.

45x33 cm. (1 7.75 x 13 in.)

Bibliotheque rationale, Paris.

17
PART I: DRAWING AFTER CASTS
(. MODELES D'APRES LA BOSSE)

m " he sec,ion Models a(ter Casli (Modifies d’apr&s

INTRODUCTION I
I
first '

how to systematically draw after casts by offering a collection

la bosse), teaches the student
of plates depicting
I casts of both partial and complete male and female bodies. Most of the casts
I are after famous ancient sculptures, but a few are taken directly from life.
1 ’
They
represent a selection that was duplicated, at least in part, in the collections of most European
and American art schools.

There are several advantages to using casts as drawing models. Their immobility permits
extended study of a single view or pose; and since they are usually white or painted in a
light color, they provide an easier reading of the values of light and shadow on their surfaces.
Moreover, the opinion has long persisted that copying casts of ancient sculpture develops good
taste. One of the major goals of this course was to teach such elevated taste (le grand good,
the proper selection from among the features and accidents of nature. Antiquity lias long
held the reputation for having gleaned the ideal human form from among the idiosyncrasies
of individual physiognomies and bodies. The resulting classical style was for many centuries
almost synonymous with good taste, and its goal was the depiction of la belle nature, the
representation of natural forms in their purest and most beautiful manifestations, without
flaws or accidents. ’* The style is recognized, indeed, defined by clarity, continuity of outline,
geometric simplification of shapes, and the rhythmic ordering of forms.
In practice, the classical style sustains the integrity of each individual part of a form while
containing the part in a larger, unified whole. The Greek temple facade, for example, presents
a unified composition in which the parts are deariy separable and identifiable: the pediment;
the entablature; the columns with their abacus, capital, shaft, and base; and the platform.
Each part is independent in the exactness of its shape and the precision of its finish, yet
each element is still a necessary part of a harmonious whole —that is, taken together they
form a column that, in turn, is a part of the facade. Precision, assurance, clarity of form, the
independence and interdependence of the parts: these trails make even a fragment of a
Creek statue—a foot, a hand, a head, a limbless torso—an admirable, unified object in itself,
while still alluding to the harmony of the lost whole.
Until recently art critics and historians chose the most idealizing period of Creek art as the
high point of ancient art and named it the dassical period (450-400 B.C). Even so, the works
of the sculptors (Myron, Phidias, Rolykleitos) and the major painters of the day (Apollodorus of
Athens, Zeuxis of Herakleia. Timanthes and Parrhasios) were known only from descriptions in
literary sources and copies. Moreover, the few known copies of the paintings are particularly
debased. This choice of one period as representative of ancient art ignores the energetic,

inventive, and lengthy stylistic evolution of Creek and Roman sculpture, which expressed
a variety of mental and spiritual states over a period spanning more than a thousand years.

18
 Fig. 6.

J.-A.-D. Ingres. Achilles Receiving the Ambassadors of

Agamemnon, lies Ambassadeurs d'AgamemnonJ 1801.
Oil on canvas. 1 10 x 155 cm. (43.25 x 61 in.)
fcole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. Paris.

19
maintaining high quality while continuing to use the classical style —which was long past its period
of dominance — for certain purposes, such as giving dignity to portrayals of gods or statesmen. '

For centuries critics ignored the production of preclassical statuary as "primitive," and decried
the postdassical production as "decadent." Le grand gout, based on the art of the classical period
(and of the major masters of the Italian High Renaissance), was thought of as the model for
representational art. This classical ideal dominated art theory and teaching until it was challenged
by the Realist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. After 1850 a new generation of students
caught up in the principles of Realism rebelled against the practice of drawing after casts because
they believed the classical conventions practiced in ancient sculpture prevented them from seeing
nature accurately. For example, the young American painter Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) was a
student in Gerome's atelier at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris during the 1860s. The students
drew from life and then after casts, alternating every three weeks. Already a stubborn American
Realist at eighteen, Eakins stayed home during the weeks devoted to drawing after casts. 1
"

Two fine paintings, one by )ean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres entitled Achilles Receiving the
Ambassadors of Agamemnon ties Ambassadeurs d'Agamemixan) (fig 6) and the other by the
American master Thomas R Anshutz, a student of Eakins, entitled The Ironworkers' Noontime (fa

Pause de midi des ouvriers metallurgies) (fig 7) clearly demonstrate the differences between the
Neoclassicism at the start of the nineteenth century and the Academic Realism of the second half of
the century. Both feature a row of masculine bodies—albeit a bit less nude in the Anshutz—all with
varied features in assorted traditional studio poses. Ingres sets out a sample set of classical types:
the youthful Apollonian hero Achilles; the younger Praxitilian Ratrocolus; the slender. Mercurial
Ulysses; and the Herculean Rome or Naples, and
Ajax. All ate adaptations of classical statuary in
each represents one of the ages of man (the set is completed by the melancholic, brooding, elderly

Briseus in the middle ground and the children playing in the distance).
The poses used by Anshutz are based on common studio poses. The underlying classicism is
somewhat disguised by the nonidealized portrait heads, individualized bodies, and the recording
of specific accidental traits (such as the sunburn patterns). Whereas Ingres uses a general light

with just enough shadowing to model his figures, Anshutz imitates the sunlight of high noon, with
resulting strong shadows, which, however, do not distort the forms. Nonetheless, both stick to the
classical tradition of a frieze of figures united by their rhythmic placement and movement across
the picture plane. Ingres's characters exist in the timeless world of mythology; Anshutz's figures
are placed in a specific modem context, a factory yard. Thus, despite their differences, the two
paintings are strongly related, demonstrating that Academic Realists retained, albeit latently, many
of the interests, habits, and practices of Classicism.
The use of casts in the teaching of drawing gradually diminished until, by the 1920s, it was
hardly practiced. By the 1950s even the once strict practice of drawing after live models had
become merely a freehand event, without direction or criticism, and certainly without system or
method.-' The result was a decline in the quality of objective painting even by artists who wanted
1

to maintain traditional standards.

Throughout the twentieth century live grand cast collections in the academies and art schools,
which had been assembled with such effort and cost for over a century, were sold, given away,
destroyed, or left to languish in corridors, subject to student pranks and mutilation.
Batgue-G£r6me Drawing Course can be seen as an
Against the history of these changes, the
attempt to balance contemporary Realism with the practices of classical Idealism. The authors
intended to teach a method of drawing the human figure from nature with good taste, to instill
in their students a practice based on careful selection, simplification, and a knowledge of the
structure of the human figure. The method taught was newly informed with the excitement of the
Realist movement of the mid-nineteenth century, and for a while —even against the incoming Fig. 7.

tide of modernism —the combination supported the creation of great modern history and genre Thomas Anshulz. The Ironworkers'
Noontime. (La Pause de midi des ouvriers
paintings.’-'
mflallurgistes.) 1880-81. Oil on canvas.
The abandonment of the study of the classical ideal in the last quarter of the nineteenth century 43.5x61 cm. (17x24 in.)
was a serious break in an established yet vital artistic tradition. After all. Western art is an artificial Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. (Cift

activity that became self-conscious in antiquity and again in the Italian Renaissance, each time of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3" ,
1

articulating an intellectual, apologetic theory of art that continued to influence the creation and 1979-7-4).

teaching of painting over the centuries. The twentieth-century break in this developed tradition

is problematic for young, contemporary artists who may not be attracted by the many schools
and movements of modernism but are instead drawn to the imitation of nature. Without access
to the rich lore and methods of humanist figure painting, they find themselves untrained and
underequipped for many of the technical problems that confront them as Realists. Without help,
today's young Realist artistsmay end up uncritically copying superficial appearances, randomly
selecting from nature, and unwittingly producing clumsy and incoherent figures.

21
 )

Practical Matters: Using the Plates as Models to Copy

The Schemata or Plans

Most of the plates in part I of the Bargue-Cerome Drawing Course contain two images: a
finished drawing of a cast beside a linear schema. The schema, usually to the left, is a guide on
how to accurately simplify the optical contour (mise en trail of the cast next to it before starting on
the actual depiction of the cast. The schema suggests a useful set of reference lines and sometimes
a geometric configuration, around which would be easy to organize the contours of one’s own
it

drawing (see, for example, the triangle drawn around and through the foot in plate 5). (The I,

diagrams themselves should not be copied exactly but should be used as guides on how to begin
a drawing.) Furthermore, the course presents only generalized rules on procedure; there seems to
be no basic underiying formula. However, you should develop a working procedure of your own
with reference to examples provided by the course. At the end of part I, when copying the last

highly finished plates without a model schemata, you will have to rely on the experience gained
from drawing the earlier examples.
The actual drawing* after casts were probably done by several —even many— artists from
Chrome's circle of students and friends. We know the name of just one, Lecomte du Nouy
(1842-1923; see "The Drawing Course" section of the Bargue biography in the present study),
and we can safely venture the name of another, Hippolyte Flandrin (1809-1864; see comment to
plate I, 70). Bargue copied their drawings on stone for printing as lithographs. The accompanying
schemata all exhibit the same penchant for the use of angles, clarity in execution, and simplification
of contours; it seems safe to drew the schemata for the drawings as he copied
assume that Bargue

the finished models on stone; they represent the unifying method of part However, there are a I.

few plates where the schemata are less clear (for instance, plate 42) and schematized without I,

a specific underlying method. The eyes in plate I, 1, for instance, are not organized around an
unvarying point where the plumb line and the horizontal cross each other—say, the pupil —or
the inner corner of the eye; instead the crossing point seems to have been chosen at random.
In contrast, the other Bargue schemata are dear in purpose, skillfully organized, and based on
carefully chosen angle points.

This chapter introduces and defines some terms that will be used in describing a systematic
procedure for copying the model drawings. There are, of course, other methods, and if you are
copying the Bargue drawings under supervision, the teacher or drawing master may suggest
alternative procedures.

Start with the first drawing, work your way through the rest in sequence, or skip ahead
judiciously based on your increased skill or the permission of your instructor. You will quickly note
that each subdivision of part I ends with a challenging, highly finished drawing; the section on
legs, for instance, ends with the fully modeled drawing of the legs of Michelangelo's Dying Slave
(plate I, 30).
You will soon come to appreciate the skill that produced these plates, as well as their exceptional
refinement. Even if you do not understand what you are copying, continue to work with accuracy.
Sometimes you will not know exactly what a line or a shadow describes until you have correctly
rendered it. By grasping Bargue's achievement, you will raise your own power of observation and
simplification.
 Materials

The lithographs were made after charcoal drawings and were intended to be copied in

charcoal. You should use this medium if you have adequate command of the technique. Use
natural kiln-dried vine charcoal in sticks, and reserve charcoal pencils for finishing (the binder used

in them makes their lines difficult to erase). Only charcoal can equal the intensity of the blacks in
tiie reproductions, and vine charcoal erases easily. However, you should not use it as a beginner
without instruction; the use of charcoal presents too many difficulties to solve by yourself.
If you are a beginner, or if you prefer pencil, you should have a selection of well-sharpened

grades— 2H through 82 (remember that pencils softer than HB are difficult to use without
producing slick, shiny surfaces)—and a good, kneadable eraser. Pencil cannot achieve the same
density of darkness as in the plates. Any attempt to produce similar shadows with pencil will result
in a multitude of loose flecks of carbon that will repeatedly spoil other areas of your drawing. Strive

instead for overall lighter shadows and relatively lighter halftones.

Some of the more be enlarged before you can copy them. Use a
detailed plates need to

good color laser printer to have them magnified two or three limes. The original plate size is
60 x 46 centimeters (24 x 18 inches). In their present size, you might not be able to see or copy
many of the fine details, especially if you are working in charcoal. Regardless of the drawing
medium used, you need high-grade, well-sized paper with a slight tooth and a surface that can
take much erasure. Seek the advice of your art-supply dealer or artists you know. Inferior materials
will lead to frustration and keep you from finishing the drawing accurately and neatly.

Drawing Terms
A point is a dot or mark without dimensions on a drawing surface. A line is a mark generated
by extending a point (dot) between two points on a flat surface. Two lines that intersect or join

form an angle. Points, lines, and angles constitute the basic elements for constructing the contour

or outline fm/se en trait), the visual outer shape of an object.

Basically, drawing is critical elements from nature and recording them on
the act of choosing
lines, and angles
paper while preserving their relationships. As you study the relationships of points,
observed in nature, one point higher or lower than the other? Is one line longer
ask yourself: Is

or shorter than another? Is one angle more or less acute or obtuse than another? Asking these
questions and making such comparisons will enable you to analyze and record the shape of the
Bargue cast drawings or of any other object.
One of the goals of the course is to teach you to estimate distances, angles, and relationships

with your eye. Some students use a pencil, a knitting needle, a taut piece of string, or a plumb
line-'— held with outstretched, locked arms and one eye closed— in order to more accurately
measure the distances between certain points on the model and on their paper. This practice

requires that you always look at the drawing or object from exactly the same unvarying position
(see appendix 2). Some students also use a ruler or an angle with a protractor, which may save

hours of frustration. However, you should train your eye to estimate these distances without
recourse to tools.
 Suggestions for Copying the Plates

step 1: Make your drawing the same size as the plate you are using. This will facilitate direct
comparison with the model. Then begin each drawing by locating the extreme points on the cast:
the highest point, the lowest one, and those to the left and the right. Complex poses with extended
arms, feet, and joints may require another dot or two to circumscribe. Make approximate marks
for these four points on the paper. When joined by contour lines, they will form an irregular
rectangle or shape that contains the basic shape of the cast and fixes the overall proportions. You
will develop a more concise contour of the subject within this rectangle by measuring more angle
points on the contour of the subject and placing them on the drawing, using your rectangle as a
guide.
Step 2: As an organizational tool, draw a vertical reference line (hereafter referred to as a plumb
line except in cases where the term might be ambiguous) on the paper by either copying the one
from the schema or from the highest point of the cast. This line not only shows how the peak
of the cast relates to the lowest point but also reveals how interior points for features inside the
outline relate to each other. Since many of your initial calculations will be approximate, the plumb
line becomes an invaluable empirical device. Additional vertical reference lines can assist in the
understanding and drawing of complex areas.
Step 3: See which interior points the plumb line crosses on the plate and mark them on your
drawing. For example, on plate 43 (Faustina) (Faustine the plumb line intersects the top of the
I,

head and crosses through the brow and the top of the eye. It then passes closely by the left
left

nostril, conveniently touches the left comer of the mouth, but misses the bottom of the cast. From

this line one concludes that the inward comer of the left eye relates directly to the left comer of

the mouth. This is the type of observation about internal relationships that one should continually
make as the drawing progresses.
Step 4: After establishing the verticals, examine the horizontals. For example, the right extremity

of plate I, 43 occurs near the hairline overhanging the projection of the nose. The line drawn
horizontally across the brow indicates that the width between the plumb line and the ear on the
left is much greater than the distance from the same line to the edge of the right brow, judge by
sight the distances from the central plumb line to other points or angles on the contour and inside
the cast; then mark their positions in your drawing. When you are drawing an entire figure and
are looking at the head or feel from your standing position, do not move your head up or down,
just the eyes. Failure to hold the head steady often results in elongated legs.

Step 5: Your drawing should now resemble plotted points on a graph, locating the heights and
widths of the contours and interior features. Observe the angles that would be formed if the lines
were connected; then join them with reference to the Bargue schema. Since the junctures of the
plumb line and horizontal reference lines form right (ninety-degree) angles, use them to judge the
relative degree of other angles. If the angles appear too acute or obtuse, study the finished model
and correct them. Break curved lines into a series of two or more straight lines. For example,
in plate I, 43 two straight lines describe the upper right brow, but seven straight lines plot the

complexities of the ear. The Bargue plates offer many examples of how to abstract a complex
contour into straight lines. Occasionally slightly curved lines are used instead of straight ones.

24
However, almost all curves can be reduced to straight lines that cross at the apex. Breaking up

curves into straight lines enables you to ascertain the exact inflection point and amplitude of the
curve. When you draw curves unaided, they tend to become arcs. Moreover, when drawing an
arc it is hard to know when to stop.
Noting anatomical landmarks can be helpful at the outset in order to accurately draw the outline
and establish the proportions. For example, the indentation on the right side of the nose and the
pit of the neck are indicated within the outlines on plate 1, 43. Likewise marks are made for some
interior forms of the ear. These notations will vary from one cast to another. Looking up unfamiliar
areas or parts in anatomy books and learning their names will help clarify your thinking.
Step 6: The next step is drawing the boundaries of the shadows. At this point your copy should
appear relatively dose to the preliminary schema or — if the plate has three steps —the second one.
In plate 34 (Dante) (Dante), the division between shadow and light is indicated with a line. For
I,

the most part, the shadow line is a generalization of the shadow's complex meandering across the
cast, so do not make it emphatic. Squinting at the model will help in discovering this dividing line

between light and shadow, for it will consolidate the dark masses. So will looking at it in a black
mirror." Do not outline the halftones (sometimes referred to as half-tints, from the French demi-
l&nte).

To repeat, begin each cast drawing by determining the most important points and general
angles (with the aid of a plumb line or some other tool). Do not attempt to transcribe curves;
average them with a series of straight lines. Concentrate on the large forms while ignoring small
ones. Continually examine and correct the outline; anticipate the next set of more complex points,

straight lines, and angles before attempting any modeling.

Values and Modeling

In art theory and practice, the term value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of an area
exposed to light (some writers substitute tone for vafue). It can also be used to describe the absolute
brightness of an object (seen or imagined as being without shadow or reflection on its surface).

This even value is sometimes called the local value of the object. For example, a gray object has a
darker local value than a white one.
In nature, values reveal the geometry of an object in relation to a light source. For instance,
each side of a cube will have a different value because each has a different spatial orientation to
the light source, a different —
amount of received light, and to the viewer—a unique perspective.
Similarly, the values will be affected by the kind of light hitting it (direct, diffused, or reflected) and
by the strength of that light source (bright or dim). These distinctions all present difficult problems
for the artist.

In drawing, the transcription of the relative values of an object is called modeling. There are
three techniques for modeling: stumping (estomper), veiling (grainer), and hatching (hacher).

Stumping is the rubbing of the drawing medium into the paper, usually with the pointed end of a
paper tightly rolled into a stick, called a stump (estompe). Due to its cleanliness and precision, the

stump is preferable to the fingertip. Stumping produces a soft, atmospheric effect.

 The second technique, veiling, involves the drawing of faint lines with the pencil or charcoal
tip lightly over the paper's grain. This technique alters the value in a very subtle manner; the effect

may appear much like translucent veils or glazes. Veiling is useful when modeling delicate forms
in the light and where the curvature is gradual.
Hatching, the third method, is the building up of dark value by means of thin parallel lines;

when these lines cross each other at angles, it is called cross-hatching. This is essentially an
engraver's technique. Some purists who want all the effects in a drawing to be the product of pure
line favor hatching over stumping. Hatching can strengthen the modeling achieved by stumping
and veiling. Moreover, hatching adds linear direction when drawn axially and helps to create the
illusion of foreshortening when drawn transversely in perspective.

Procedure for Modeling

Step 7: The same rule —work from the general to the specific —applies to modeling as well as

to line drawing. Begin with the large, dark, generalized shadow; fill it in evenly while refening to
the finished drawing. You may schematize the boundaries in your drawing, remember that the
but
edge of a shadow is seldom abrupt; still, an area is either in light or in shadow and this difference
must be made clear. Once added, shadows give the illusion of sculptural relief.

In modeling the shadows, Bargue downplayed reflected light, which in nature would flood
the shadows of an actual white plaster cast. The simple shadows were most likely maintained by
using a controlled, direct light and by placing the cast in a shadow box, a three-sided open box,
lined with black paper or cloth, which diminishes reflected light (see glossary and section entitled
"Excursus; Shadow Boxes" in appendix 2; see also fig. 44.”)
Shadows record the effects of light and give the illusion of a shape turning in space. A focused
light source, with a fairly small aperture (like a spotlight) emphasizes form and casts a shadow that

starts out sharp-edged but becomes diffuse as it moves away from the object casting it. A general
light, such as that produced outside at noon on a cloudy day, would reduce the shadows to grayish
halftones. Classical taste emphasizes clarity of form over showy light effects; as a classicist, Bargue
used light to reveal rather than obscure form.
Step 2: After drawing the shadows, analyze the value” of the halftones and place them in the
drawing. (A halftone is any variant of value between light and dark — say, white and black. There
are usually several halftones, of graduated value, in a drawing.) In the early stages of the course,
the finished drawings are separated into three values: one for die shadow, another for the halftone
area, and the white of the paper for the lights. Both the main halftone area and the shadows are
clearly indicated. However, the transition from the halftones to the light areas requires care. Notice
that the halftones can appear quite dark next to the lights and be mistaken for shadow. On a scale
of values from 1 to 9, where 9 is the value of the paper and 1 is the darkest mark that the pencil or
charcoal can make, the halftones on a white cast are around values 5 and 6. The average shadow
is around 4, which is a little darker than the value of the halftones.
 Step 3: After the darkest, major shadow
lias been filled in, tine halftones are blended into the

shadow and gradated toward the This can be extended to complete the modeling
light areas.

by the recording of every value. 56 (Male Torso, back view) (Torse d'homme, vu de dos)
Plate I,

illustrates tine gradual lightening of values from the shadow into the halftones and from the halftones

into the light, as well as the delicate transitions within the light itself. Here, too, the halftones and

lighter values describe complex forms, as along the border of the scapula and around the dimples

near the sacrum. Fby attention to the degree of lightness and darkness represented in the finished
cast drawing. Each value relates to the other values yet holds its place within the total effect.

Notice the values of the halftones from area to area along the main shadow. Where the
curvature of form is more acute, there are few halftones; a gentle curve produces more. Despite
the range of values used in the modeling of the torso, Bargue presented a simplification of values
and forms without a confusing proliferation of detail. Such control is a hallmark of the classical

style.

Step 4: In general, as the course progresses, tine finished drawings grow more complex and
contain areas that may appear impossible to copy, especially if you were to work from the plates
in the book rather than from enlargements. Resolve a complicated area by analyzing its essential

structure. For example, divide the multitudinous curb of a Roman noblewoman into recognizable

yet simplified masses or shapes. Squint at the values to obfuscate distractions and to average the
values into discemable areas. Get a fresh view by looking at both your drawing and the model in

a minor: backward, upside down, or even sideways. Each step completed will make you aware
of the next passage to work on.

Finishing the Drawing

Finish requires time and patience. However, as you gradually become aware of how much you
have learned by being careful and accurate, your patience and enthusiasm will increase. Ask for

criticism from knowledgeable peers. Study your drawing; it is essential that you learn to see and
correct your errors yourself. You could also make a tracing of your drawing and then lay it on top
of the plate. Analyze what went wrong, especially if you are working alone. Be strict with yourself.
A drawing can be stopped at any time, as long as there are no errors in it.

Remember that the academic artists of the nineteenth century whom you are learning to
emulate in this course thought that finish denoted professionalism, that it indicated an orderly
mind and represented the complete development of the artist’s idea. It was not uncommon for

an artist to spend months or even years to complete a work. Accept the fact that classical drawing
skilb develop slowly and plan to use as much time as needed — hours, days, or even months —to
achieve a respectable finish.
Plate I, 2

29
 Plate I, 3

30
Plate 1,
32
Plate 1,
-n°‘>

^
1

Planche 1,
35
Plate 1, 10

37
 Planche I,

38
Planche 1, 12

39
40
Plate 1, 14
Plancbe 1, 15
ic

43
Plate 1, 18

45
47
48
49
 Planche I, 23

50
Planche 1, 24
52
53
Planche 1, 27
Planche I, 28

55
 Plate I, 29

56
Plate 1, 30

57
I

58
6fi

ZS 'I 3l|3UE|d

CARDINAL

XI

MEN

E:
C )
>
VWr 1

Plate I, 33
 If
a
Ho

Plate I, 34
 Planche 1, 35

62
63
 Plate I, 37

64
Planche 1, 40

67
 0^*4-

late 1, 42

69
 AVJ

LS
I
N
3

Planche 1, 43

70
9t> 'I aipueid
77
78
Plate I, 53
 Plate I, 5

82
 (o

tt
c

tel, 60
Plate I, 61
 Sf^<b

Plate 1, 65

92
95
 Plate I, 69

96
97
 Plate II, 4

134
135
 Plate II, 7

136
137
139
140
Platell, 13

141
Plate II, 14
Plate II, 15

143
145
 Plate II, 17

146
147
148
149
150
151
152
1S4
 Plate II, 37

K\

=f

ill
Wt
,^kj r n

155
 Plate II, 34

156
Plate II, 35

157
158
Plate II, 48

159
160
161
 Plate II, 52

162
163
Plate II, 60
165
 Plate II, 67

166
Plate II, 67

167
Notes on the Plates

Although all the lithographs in Plate II, 1. Michelangelo (1475-1564), Angel Blowing a Trumpet.
partII are reproduced, not all are
(Ange sonnant de la trompette.) Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
recommended for copying. Those
thought to be the best models for This drawing is an "interpretation" of a famous figure in the grand fresco The last ludgment
beginning students are reproduced (1536-1542) in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
as full-page illustrations and are
accompanied by technical notes. Pjate II, 2. Hippolvte Flandrin (1809-1864), Study of a Woman.
The others are reproduced as
(Etude de femme.) Whereabouts unknown
quaiter-page illustrations.

was most famous for his decorations of churches and palaces. This
Flandrin, a student of Ingres,
is a preparatory drawing for the decorations done in 1841 for the due de Luynes at his chateau in

Dampierre.’* See also plates II, 15 and II, 25.

Plate II, 3. Hippolyte Flandrin, Italian Shepherd, study.

(Patre italien (tele d'etudeJJ Whereabouts unknown

Plate II, 4. Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904), Head of a Fellah, three-

quarter view.
(Tete de fellah, vue de trois quarts.) Private collection

See the comments to plate II, 14.

Plate II, 5. Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530), Head of a Child.

(Tete d'enfant.) Louvre Museum, Paris

This isa drawing for a figure in the painting Caritas, painted in Paris in 1518. The painting is

also in the Louvre Museum in Paris. See also comments to plate II, 31

Plate II, 6.Agnolo Gaddi (1345-1396), Portrait of a Man.

(Portrait d'homme.) British Museum, London
The drawing has the attribution to Agnolo Gaddi inscribed on the verso. It was attributed to
Masaccio by Johann David Passavant (1833) and to Domenico Ghirlandaio by Bernard Berenson
(1938), an attribution retained to this day.

Plate II, 7. Leon Bonnat (1833-1922), Young Roman, study.

(Jeune Romain [tete d'etude] j Bonnat Museum, Bayonne

Bonnat was a good friend of Cerome and accompanied him on excursions (on safari) in Egypt
and Palestineon several occasions. A portrait painter noted for the illusionislic qualities of his
realism, Bonnat was also a famous collector of master drawings; his collection is now in the Bonnat
Museum in Bayonne.

Vigorous cross-hatching establishes the hair, showing both its growth pattern and its general

planes. The roundness of the globe of the eye is described by careful construction of its darkest
jxirts few accents that follow the form. The subtle structure of the
as well as by the placing of a
children's heads taxes any artist's knowledge of anatomy because the surface does not reveal the
body structure.
Fig. 23.
Plate II, 8. Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), Gentleman from the Court
of Henry VIII.
(Gentilhomme de la cour de Henri VIII.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen,
Royal Library, Windsor Castle
Hans Holbein the Younger was bom in Augsburg, where he was trained by his father, Hans Holbein the
Elder, a noted artist. He worked first in Prague and Basel. After traveling in Italy and France, he went to London,

where he became court painter to Henry VIII. He sketched and (Minted many members of the court in a frank
and objective style. His drawings are the most frequently reproduced in part II.

Plate II, 9. Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Nicholas Carew.

(Sir Nicolas Carew.) Offentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett

Sir Nicolas was an ecuyer, or squire, in charge of the stables of Henry VIII.

Plate II, 10. Hans Holbein the Younger, The Daughter of Jacques Meyer.
(La fille de Jacques Meyer.) 1525. Offentliche Kunstsammlung Basel,
Ku pferstich kabinett
This drawing of Anna Meyer is a preparatory drawing for a portrait in the Gemaldcgalerie Alte Meister,
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden.

If you look ahead to the portraits by Paul Dubois (plate II, 1 8) and Adolphe-William Bouguereau (plate II, 23),
you will see that Holbein has more carefully delineated each element—including facial features and costume—
than either artist. Yet both Dubois and Bouguereau have outlined the contours of the face with great subtlety,
noting the sitter's anatomy: the forehead, the brow, the cheekbone, the nose, the fullness of the cheek and of
the muscles around the mouth, and the protuberance of the chin. Study each drawing. Try to understand the
reason for each bump or depression of the face; refer to an anatomy book for guidance. The light is frontal
but diffused. Lighter areas are modeled by veiling. Compare this drawing with the photograph of the original
drawing, done in black and colored chalks against a green background (see fig 23).

Plate 11. Raphael (1483-1520), Kneeling Woman.

II,

(Figure de femme agenouillee.) Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City

The drawing is after a figure in Raphael's oil painting The Transfiguration (painted between 1517 and 1 520),
in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City.

Plate 12. Filippino Lippi (1457-1504), Portrait.

II,

(Portrait de Filippino Lippi.) Ufizzi Gallery, Florence

This "interpretation," that is, a drawing after a finished work, in this case a self-portrait in fresco
is an
(probably a fragment of a wall decoration). Fresco technique requires broad handling. Whereas Bonnat (see
plate II, 7) —
had used hatching for shading, here the artist uses a sfumato a gentle modeling by means of an
overlapping, blended succession of values— in a dramatic chiaroscuro. The light on the right side reveals the
fleshy roundness of (he artist's parted lips. The direction of the illumination—frontal lighting slightly off to one
side—causes a raking shadow and sets the mood of the portrait. A slightly agitated youth emerges from the
shadowed uncertainty of adolescence.

Plate II, 13. Charles Gleyre (1808-1874), Omphale, study.

(Omphale [tete d'etude].) Whereabouts unknown

Gleyre was one of Gerome’s teachers. This is a study "from nature" for the painting Hercules at the Feet

ofOmphale IHercule aux pieds d'Omphale), now in the Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne. William
Hauptman thinks the drawing was done by Gleyre expressly for the Drawing Course: he also notes that Diego
'
1
Rivera (1886-1957) copied this lithograph while a student in Madrid.
 Gleyre's interpretation of the Greek portrait style is modified by his working from life. The frontal lighting
pushes most of the darker lints to the edges, emphasizing the outline. The expression is tender yet ambiguous,
as is the modeling, which describes Omphale's features in a thin veil of tone.

Plate II, 14. Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904), Head of a Fellah, profile.

(Tete de fellah, vue de profit.) Private collection

A fellah
an Egyptian peasant. This sketch was made while traveling on safari in Egypt during the winter of
is

1856-57; the young man was probably a retainer. Gerome also engraved the portrait.
Gerome uses a device that successfully focuses our interest on the face: he finishes the features, while
handling the clothing in a sketchier style. His cross-hatching is very vigorous. Gerome was obviously attracted

to the pronounced, punctuated features of the young Arab. Compare the handling of this head with Gleyre's
Ireatment of a young girl's head in plate II, 36.

PJate II, 15. Hippolyte Flandrin, Study of a Woman.

(Etude de femme.) Whereabouts unknown
This is a preparatory drawing for the decorations done in 1841 for the due de Luynes at his chateau in
Dampierre. See also comments to plates II, 2 and II, 25.
Flandrin has reserved the most pronounced modeling for the contours, an effect produced more naturally by
Gleyre (see plate 11,13). These are not actual shadows but rather a darkening of light areas with cross-hatching;,
Gerome, Flandrin has described the drapery sketchily, although not enough
the effect of frontal lighting. Like

Greek vase painting rebind the pose of the woman and her
to disturb the classical, intellectual imitation of I

Compare the idealized portrait of the woman with the cast drawing of a Roman empress (plate 43), the
chair. 1,

depiction of her body to Raphael's clothed figure (plates II, 1 1 and II, 43), and the modeling of the outstretched
hand to that of the cast drawing of a woman pressing her breast with her hand (plate 15). 1,

Plate II, 16. Raphael, Self-Portrait.

(Portrait de Raphael.) Uffizi Gallery, Florence
This drawing is an "interpretation" after an early (Minting by Raphael also in the Uffizi.

Plate II, 17. Jean-Jacques Henner (1829-1905), Laughing Boy, study.

(Le Rieur [tete d'etucleJJ Whereabouts unknown
Henner was famous for nudes printed in a developed chiaroscuro. His house in Paris is now the Mus£e
national |ean-|acques Henner.
Strongly animated heads are in the tradition both of Hellenistic sculpture and of the sculpted teles (/'expression,
or expressive heads (that is, heads showing specific emotions) produced by students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts

in Paris (see also concoun in glossary). Henner combines all three methods of shading—stumping, hatching,

and veiling— in this lively head. Seen from above, the hair becomes the dominant feature. The view was chosen
to add movement to the figure and to support the expression on the boy's face. The hair is decorative yet still
true to the values one might see in nature. The part breaks the hair up into sections that follow the growth
pattern.

Plate II, 18. Paul Dubois (1829-1905), Roman Woman.

(Femme romaine.) Whereabouts unknown
Dubois was an excellent sculptor whose work was influenced by Florentine quattrocento sculpture. He was
a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where even sculptors were taught to draw well.
By deliberately putting his model in profile, Dubois emphasizes the abstract and formal qualities of the
picture rather than the personality of the sitter. Her features are described in halftones that contrast with the light
background and further distinguish the contours. Both stumping and veiling techniques could have achieved the
painterly qualities of this drawing. Whereas Gerome suppressed most of the values of the face in his portraits of
Arabs, Dubois describes every change in values —
and he finishes the clothing and accessories as well.

Plate 19. Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Charles Elliot.

II,

(Le chevalier Charles Elliot.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle

Plate II, 20. Hans Holbein the Younger, Gentleman from the Court of Henry VIII.
(Gentilhomme de la cour de Henri VIII.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen,
Royal Library, Windsor Castle

Pjate II, 21. Michelangelo, Study of a Man.

(Etude d'homme.) Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
This is another "interpretation" after a figure in the last ludgment fresco (1 536-1 542) in the Sistine Chapel. It

is a lesson in foreshortening.

Plate II, 22. Auguste Toulmouche (1829-1890), Young Woman Kissing Her Child.
(Jeune femme embrassant son enfant.) Whereabouts unknown
Gerome, Toulmouche was a student of Gleyre. He and Gerome also belonged to the Neo-Grecs, a group
Like
of young painters of the mid-nineteenth century who painted genre scenes set in antiquity. Toulmouche soon
switched to contemporary genre scenes, depicting middle-class women and their children. This pair was also
used in a lost (Minting entitled The Maternal Kiss (Le Baiser matcrnel), which was shown at the Salon of 1857.
The lighting is frontal. Both interlocked figures are seen in profile. Toulmouche uses subtle changes in
perspective to create rhythms that move forward as well as up and down.

Plate II, 23. Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1825-1905), A Roman Woman, study.

(Tete de femme romaine [etude].) Whereabouts unknown
Bouguereau was almost an exact contemporary of Gerome. Along with Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891),
they were the most famous representatives of French Academic Realism of the second half of the nineteenth
century.
Bouguereau's use of loose hatch lines is closer to Chrome's methods than to the hatching of Dubois. He
probably drew this in pencil —the shadows of the hair —
and figure are rather light reserving the darks for the
accents in the eye, nose, mouth, and ear.

Plate II, 24. Archer from Aegina.

(Sagittaire Eginete.) Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich
This is a figure (480 B.C.) from the east pediment of the Doric temple of Aphia on the island of Aegina. The
lion-head cap identifies him as Hercules. In the early nineteenth century the twelve figures of the pediment were
restored by the great Danish Neoclassical sculptor Bertl Thorvaldsen (1 770-1884). The draftsman has chosen a
view of the statue where the restorations are least evident, which includes the right forearm, the left hand, the
left thigh, part of the right foot, and parts of the hem of the skirt (see also plate II, 40).

Pjate II, 25. Hippolyte Flandrin, Study of a Woman.

(Etude de femme.) Whereabouts unknown
This is yet another drawing for the decoration of the chateau of the due de Luynes in Dampierre; see
comments to plates II. 2 and II, 1 5.
 This drawing shows a woman drying her hair after a bath. The most remarkable feature is the continuous,
unbroken line describing the left contour of the
Even though the character of the figure is round and
figure.
voluptuous, the outline is stabilized by
Moreover, its linear, decorative quality vies with its
straight passages.
ability to express volume. As with the other nude studies prepared for the Dampierre decorations, there is very

little interior modeling. Dark accents are prominent only in the features of the face. With a little practice the

student will be able to see how the drawing differs from nature, how Flandrin abstracts and flattens the figure
to achieve his conception of the ideal, and which aspects of the figure he chooses to stress—such as the facial
expression—and which he chooses to suppress. The simplicity of the drawing is deceptive. Flandrin's style is
practiced yet truthful in its larger concepts: the muscles and moqihologjcal forms fit together, and a minimum
of tones reveals these forms. The lighting is similar to the drawing of the cast of the Achilles (see plate I, 68).

Plate 26.
II, Hans Holbein the Younger, Citizen of Basel.
(Bourgeoise de Bale.) Offentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett

Plate II, 27. Hans Holbein the Younger, Anna Crisacria.

(Anna Grisacria ICresacrel.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle

Plate II, 28. Hans Holbein the Younger, John Poines.

(Jphn Poines.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library, Windsor

Plate II, 29. Hans Holbein the Younger, Thomas, Count of Surrey.
(Thomas, comte de Surrey.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle
The sitter is now identified as Henry Howard, earl of Surrey.

Plate II, 30. Hans Holbein the Younger, Anne Boleyn.

(Anne Boleyn.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library, Windsor
Castle

Plate II, 31. Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530), Self-Portrait.

(Portrait d 'Andrea del Sarto.) Whereabouts unknown
This is an
"interpretation," a drawing after a finished painting, Charity, (1486) in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Andrea del Sarto was one of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance, whose major works are in the Pitti
Palace in Florence.
Andrea's treatment is more realistic than that of Cleyre and Flandrin. He attends to all the major fomis of the
face, putting them in tonally by means of stumping. The eyes are circumscribed by halftones that give clarity to
tlie skeletal sockets. Compare this with plate II, 1 2.

Plate 32. Raphael, Dante.

II,

(Portrait du Dante.) Stanze di Raffaello, Vatican City

This is a drawing after the figure of Dante in the fresco Parnassus loaned in the Stanza della Segnatura
(1508-1 1 ) in the Vatican. Raphael developed his likeness from older, traditional portraits of Dante.
Plate II, 33. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), A Lictor.
(Licteur.) Ingres Museum, Montauban
This is an "interpretation” after a famous oil sketch in the Ingres Museum in Montauban. The oil sketch was
a study for a large painting entitled 77>e Martyrdom ofSainl Symphorian (he Martyre de s aim Symphorien) (1834)
in the Cathedral of Saint Lazare, Autun.

Plate II, 34. Jules Lefebvre (1836-1912), Head of a Child.

(Tete d'enfant.) Whereabouts unknown
Lefebvre was a successful academic painter, famous for his nudes, and a longtime teacher at the Academic
Julian in Paris. Although he received many decorations, honors, and state commissions, he is hardly remembered
today, although several of his works are still admired and reproduced.
This is a preparatory drawing for his painting Cornelia, Mother of the Cracchi (Com&ie, mere des Cracques),
whose unknown. This is a masterful study of a foreshortened head, seen from below, as well
present location is

as an example of "stopped modeling." The halftones are produced both by stumping and hatching. Thick and
thin lines form the contours, which are darkest on the shaded side of the head. The nrck is a cylinder that meets
the shadowy underside of the chin. The mastoid muscle (stemocleidomastoideus) is fully described under the
ear, as is its attachment to the clavicle below the lightly hatched Adam's apple.

Plate II, 35. Emile Levy (1826-1890), Head of a Young Italian Girl.
(Tete de jeune fille italienne.) Whereabouts unknown
Emile L£vywas a student of Fran<;ois-Edouard Picot (1786-1868) and Alexandre Denis Abel Pujol (1787-
1861 Winner of a Prix de Rome in history [Minting in 1854, he had a long career as a history and genre painter.
).

Since his death he has slipped into obscurity. Although a contemporary of Cerome and Bouguereau, he adhered
to the conventions of Neodassicism and avoided the more strident traits of Realism.
To copy this, use red or sanguine conte or chalk. It might be helpful to look again at the classical profiles in
plates 33 and
I, 40. The design of the hair is especially fine in its controlled ornamentation. The contour is
I,

stressed, as in many of the drawings. The lips are parted but still planar. Although each feature of the profile is
carefully articulated, there is less detail in the interior modeling, with its sfumato, diffused shadows, and nebulous
halftones.

Plate II, 36. Charles Gleyre, Head of a Young Italian Girl.

(Tete de jeune fille italienne.) Whereabouts unknown

On Gleyre, see comments to plate II, 1 3. William Hauptman has identified the subject as either a study for or
after the figure in the painting La Charmettse of 1878, in the Kunstmuseum Basel. He postulates that the drawing

might have been commissioned by Goupil for the Drawing Course.“

Use red or sanguine chalk. This is another unusual and instructive view complicated by the plumpness— more
fat than muscle — of the child. Axial and vertical hatching describe the top and lower planes of the simplified
hair. The prominent ear is fully finished, as are the values of the face. Note that the ear does not distract from the
beauty of the modeling along the contour of the neck and face. The integrity of the head is maintained because
the ear is seen in proper value relationship to the whole. The dark values inside the ear are lighter than the dark
values under lire ear and chin. If the values in the ear were too dark, they would draw attention to the ear.

Plate II, 37.,Adolphe-William Bouguereau, A Pifferaro. Study painted from life.

( Pifferaro [Etude peinte d'apres nature).) Whereabouts unknown
A pifferaro was a music-playing Italian shepherd, usually equipped with a rustic bagpipe or a bassoon. (The
duct for oboe and bassoon in the country dance movement of Beethoven "Pastoral" Symphony imitates the
pifferari .) In the nineteenth century they were for hire as party entertainers and models for painters.
Plate II, 38. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Sir John Godsalve.
(Portrait de Sir John Godsalve.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen,
Royal Library, Windsor Castle
Oil Holbein, see Ihe comments to plate It, 8. This plate is not a facsimile but rather another "interpretation"
of a finished work.
The features are precise; the eyes have both upper and lower lids. The sharpness of the features differs from
Ihe two Italian portraits (plates II, 12 and II, 31). The device of a fully modeled head contrasting with a strictly
linear body —
although extrapolated from the finished drawing by the copyist was nonetheless employed by —
Holbein in other drawings.

Pjate 39. Hans Holbein the Younger,

II, Erasmus of Rotterdam.
(Erasme.) Louvre Museum, Paris
This is a partially finished "interpretation" of Holbein's oil portrait of the great humanist scholar. The oil is also
in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Plate II, 40. Archer from Aegina, Wearing a Helmet.

(Sagittaire Eginete, casque.) Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek,
Munich
a concoction of ancient and modem parts assembled and carved by Thorwaldsen to
This statue (480 B.C.) is

complete the damaged figure of an archer from the west pediment of the Doric temple of Aphia on the island of
Aegina. Thorwaldsen was attempting to make an archer for the left side of the triangular pediment to balance the
relatively lightly restored Hercules as archer from the other side of the pediment (see plate II, 24). New are parts
of the helmet and its crest, the head, both forearms, the hemleg and fool,
of the skirt, the lower part of the left

and part of the right leg and fool. These were evident
restorations ate not identified in the drawing, although they
in situ because of the differences in color of the okl and new marble. Thonvaklsen’s additions were removed in
the 1 %0s, making the remains purely antique but destroying a great nineteenth-century conception of a primitive
Creek warrior.

Plate II, 41. Michelangelo, Man Pulling a Rope.

(Homme au chapeletj Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
This is yet another figure from Michelangelo's Last lodgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, painted
between 1536 and 1542.

Plate II, 42. Michelangelo, Eve.

(Eve.) Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
This figure was painted between 1 508 and 1 512.

Plate II, 43. Raphael, Woman Carrying Vases.

(Femme portant des vases.) Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
This drawing is after a famous, oft-copied figure in the fresco fire in the Borgo (Intxndio di Sorgo), completed
in 1514-17.

Plate II, 44. Raphael, The Violinist.

(Le joueur de violon.) Sciarra Collection, Rome

Now ascribed to Sebastiano del PSombo (1485-1547), it was much admired as a Raphael in the nineteenth
century. As a student in Rome in the early 1 840s, Gerome painted a copy; perhaps he supplied the painting or
 He certainly suggested its inclusion. The oil was not only admired
a drawing as the model for the lithograph.
by Gerome but was also praised by both Bouguereau and Eugene-Emmanuel Amaury-Duval (1806-1885).
Although most of the Sciarra collection was sold
in 1 898-99, The Violinist is still in the collection in Rome.

Plate II, 45. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Brooke.

(Portrait de Brooke.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle
The sitter is George Brooke, ninth baron of Cobham.

Plate II, 46. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a Lady.

(Portrait de femme.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle

Plate II, 47. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Lady Elliot.
(Portrait de lady Elliot.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle
The sitter is Margaret, Lady Elliot. Her name is misspelled on the drawing.

Plate II, 48. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of William , marquess of
Northampton.
(Portrait ae William, marquess de Northampton.) Collection of Her Majesty the
Queen, Royal Library, Windsor Castle
The sitter is William Parr, first marquess of Northampton.

Plate II, 49. Jules Breton (1827-1905), The Servant.

(La servante.) Whereabouts unknown
This is a "facsimile of a drawing after nature." A contemporary of Gerome, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
(1824-1898) and Bouguereau, Breton was a famous and prolific painter of peasant scenes.

Plate II, 50. Jean-Leon Gerome, The Dog of Alcibiades.

(Le chien d'Alcibiade.) Baron Martin Museum, Gray, France
A study ("painted from nature") for Alcibiades's dog in the 1 861 painting Alcibiades in the House of Aspasia
(Alcibiade chez Aspasie)."

Plate II, 51 . Michelangelo, Man Sitting on a Sack.

(L'homme au sac.) Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

This drawing is after a figure in a fresco (1508-12) on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The
anatomy in the original is not totally correct, and the copy compounds Michelangelo’s errors. The right shoulder
and arm are exaggerated in size. Michelangelo's ability, however, comes through in the rhythmical disposition
of the parts, which gives the body a sense of grace and movement.

Plate II, 52.Thomas Couture (1815-1879), Portrait of a Young Boy.

(Portrait d'un jeune garqon.) Whereabouts unknown
Couture had a distinguished career, although several large commissions from the French government
remained unfinished because of the political upheavals during his lifetime. Known primarily for his large history
paintings executed in a loose, individual style, he had many students, among them Anselm Feuerbach (1829-
1880), Edouard Manet (1832-1883), William Morris Hunt (1824-1879), and Puvis de Chavannes.
 handling of hair by Henner
Couture another manner of drawing the hair; compare it to the
utilizes
charcoal for the general direction of
(plate II, 1 7) and by Cleyre (plate II, 36). Couture uses long strokes of the
Praiseworthy skill is
the growth patterns and general veiling to indicate the top and lower planes of the head.
of the foreshortened ear, in the slight toning for the
depression between the nasal bone
evident in the drawing
eminence, and in the gradual shading on the left cheek. The end of the nose has a planar quality,
and the nasal
separating it from its sides.

Plate II, 53. Jules Lefebvre, Head of a Woman.

(Tete de femme.) Whereabouts unknown
On Lefebvre, see comments to plate II, 34.

Plate 54. Timoleon Lobrichon (1831-1914), Study of a Baby.

II,

(Etude d'enfant.) Whereabouts unknown

Lobrichon was a student of Franrpis-Edouard Picol. In the
1850s he was associated with the Neo-Grecs, a
set in antiquity. Later he painted mothers
painters, headed by Chrome, who composed genre scenes
group of
and children in modem settings. .. . ,

understanding the difficulties of drawing babies, where baby fat and die
This complete figure will aid you in
Note how the hair radiates from die
surface bones dominate the shape and contours of the body and limbs.
forms. The technique is similar to Holbein s
crown of the head. Throughout outlines are strong, even in interior
in plates II, 19 and II, 60.

Plate II, 55. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of N. Poyntz.

dc N. Poyntz.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal
(Portrait
Library,

Windsor Castle
The sitter is Sir Nicolas Poyntz. The plate is inscribed with an added signature N. /bines Knight.

Plate II, 56. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Lady Hanegham.
(Portrait de lady Hanegham.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen,
Royal Library', Windsor Castle

Plate II, 57. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of the Wife of Jacques Meyer.
(Portrait de la femme de Jacques Meyer.) Offentliche Kunstsammlung Basel,
Kupferstichkabinett
of Basel, were drawn twice by Holbein,
Dorothea Kannengiesser and her husband, Jakob Meyer, the mayor
lias both sets of drawings. This is from the second set
and is dated 1 525-26.
and the Kunstmuseum

Plate II, 58. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a Young Man.
(Portrait d’un jeune homme.) Whereabouts unknown
father, Hans Holbein the Elder (ca. 1 465-
The style of this drawing is very dose to that of Holbein's illustrious
ca. 1 524). It may be an early drawing by the
younger Holbein.

Plate II, 59. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Lord Vaux.
de lord Vaux.) Collection ofHer Majesty the Queen, Royal
(Portrait
Library,

Windsor Castle
The sitter is Thomas, the second Lord Vaux.
Plate II, 60. Hans Holbein the Younger, Thomas, Count of Surrey.
(Portrait de Thomas, comte de Surrey.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen,
Royal Library, Windsor Castle
The silter is now identified as Henry Howard, earl of Surrey.
Holbein's naturalistic observations vie with the almost perfect oval of the face, as if he were subordinating
nature to geometry. The faintly indicated clothing contrasts with the high finish of the face; individual strokes
describe individual hairs; and the features of the face are very precise. Holbein is a master of the facial structure

around the eye.

Plate 61. Philippe Parrot (1831-1894), Bather, study of a

II, young girl.
(Baigneuse. [Etude de jeune fillejj Whereabouts unknown
Another "interpretation" of a painting. Now almost forgotten. Parrot specialized in portraits and elegant
nudes in mythological guise.

Plate II, 62.Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a Man.

(Portrait d'homme.) Whereabouts unknown
Before Word War II this drawing was in the collection of the duke of Weimar, in Weimar, Germany. The
attribution to Holbein the Younger is not certain.

Plate 63. Hans Holbein the Younger, Clinton.

II,

(Clinton.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,

Windsor Castle
The sitter is Edward, ninth earl of Clinton. Although the drawing is located at Windsor Castle by Goupil, it

cannot be found in any catalogue of the collection.

Plate II, 64. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a Lady.

(Portrait de femme.) Whereabouts unknown

Plate II, 65. Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a Man.

(Portrait d'homme.) Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Royal Library,
Windsor Castle

Plate II, 66. Hans Holbein the Younger, Lady of the Court of Henry IV.
(Dame de la cour de Henri IV.) Offentliche Kunstsammlung Basel,
Kupferstichkabinett
The sitter is Lady Guildford. This is a poor rendition of a masterful drawing by Holbein.

Plate II, 67.Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a Man.

(Portrait d'homme.) Offentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett
This is a sketch (1516) for one of the two paintings on panel of Jakob Meyer and his wife, also in the
Kunstmuseum Basel (see comments to plate II, 57). In an extremely efficient manner Holbein has given much
attention to the features of the face —such as the slight sag of the skin around Meyer's mouth and his chin—
without detracting from the simplicity of the presentation. The clothing is simply outlined. In the finished oil it is

painted from life. In the original preparatory drawing (see fig. 24) Holbein used silverpoint and red chalk.
 Fig. 24.
Hans Holbein the Younger.
Portrait of a Man (Jakob
Meyer). (Portrait d'homme.
lacob Meyer.) 1516.
Silverpoint and red chalk
on paper.
26.9 x 19.1 cm.
(10.5 x 7.5 in.)

Offentliche
Kunstsammlung Basel,

Kupferstichkabinett.
PART PREPARATION FOR
III:

DRAWING ACADEMIES
(EXERCICES AU FUSAIN POUR PREPARER A
L'ETUDE DE LACADEMIE D'APRES NATURE)

means a drawing or a painting of a nude

I NTRODl ITTION I n Sencral art-historical usage, an acadtmie 4
I model in a pose considered "noble and classic." '
Highly finished charcoal drawings
I of male nudes were produced in such numbers in art academies that the institution
I became synonymous with its most representative product.
Female models were not used in life drawing classes at nineteenth-century academies
until sometime after the middle of the century." Students were expected to learn how to
draw the female nude from statuary and other works of art, such as the models in the first
and second parts of Bargue’s Drawing Course. This was true even at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Thus, the term acad£mie in Bargue's title for the third part is the most restrictive use of the
4’
term: the seventy drawings are all of male nudes.
The mastery of the nude male body was considered the most important part of the artist's
repertoire, for it was taken for granted— in the persistent patriarchal worldview—that males
were the most important members of society; for all practical purposes, they were also the
most important characters in the historical and biblical subjects academy students were
instructed to paint. Despite the fact that history paintings had gradually gone out of favor
after the middle of the century—and that it had always been easier to sell a painting of a
—
nude female than of a nude male intense study of the male nude persisted until late in the
nineteenth century. During the twentieth century the practice changed; now females are the

favored models in art schools and drawing groups.

The results of the nineteenth-century practice can be seen in the works of Gerome. In
the Iyc6e in his hometown of Vesoul there were no live models at all in any of the drawing
and painting courses G6r6me took. When he left Vesoul and went to Paris in 1839, he
studied in the ateliers of Delaroche and Cleyre; only the latter is known to have used female
models, but Chrome’s time with Cleyre was a mere six months. Although his male nudes
were, from the start of his career, both accurate and learned, it is easy to see from his early
paintings that he had learned the female form by studying Greek statuary: his nude women
are geometrically idealized, with taut skin over rounded forms, and with particularly firm,
—
hemispherical breasts. Not until relatively late in his life probably influenced by the growing
severity of the standards of Realism —
did Chrome produce female nudes that seem to be
drawn, painted, or sculpted from live models.

180
Ancient Sculpture as the Model of True Beauty:
The Prevalence of Male Models
The nineteenth-century preference for male nudes as studio models had an old and
embedded philosophical tradition behind it.The preference, nurtured and developed over
a long period, was based on some tenets of Neoplatonism. The term covers a series of
independent and different philosophical schools of thoughtin ancient and recent times,

all which were ultimately based on the dialogues of the ancient Creek
sects or varieties of
philosopher Plato (427?-347 B.C.). Neoplatonism flourished, in various forms, into the
seventh century A.D., when it was suppressed first by the Christians and then the Muslims as
pagan, although many Neoplatonic ideas had already been assimilated by Christian theology.
The interest of the humanists of the fifteenth century in ancient texts and philosophies led to a
revival of Neoplatonic thought in several forms (such as philosophy, mysticism, and theurgy),
branches of Neoplatonism that have influenced Western thought down through modern
times. Popular astrology, for instance, is organized according to a Neoplatonic system: the
planets are intermediaries between a higher, spiritual, reality and our world.
The belief by Plato that an independent, intelligible reality exists above and outside our
sensible, material world is the basis of all schools of Neoplatonism. This higher reality is the
realm of the truth, of values and principles that are the basis of our intellectual and moral
life.The purpose of philosophy was the attainment of knowledge of these principles through
study, instruction, ritual, revelation, and restraint of the senses (denial of the flesh). At the
most elevated level it could result in a union of the individual soul with the highest sphere
of the cosmos.
Human attainment of knowledge about the true principles was endangered by the lower
emotions, which were aroused by the distracting sensory experience of the material world, or,

as Christians saw it, a struggle between the spirit and the flesh. The sensory experience of this
evokes the lower emotions—
lower, material world anger, pride, envy, greed, lust, gluttony,
sloth—which can consume our energies, weaken our judgment, and obscure the guidance of
the higher which already
principles, — by Cod our guidance— our minds,
exist instilled for in
thus delaying or destroying our ability to understand the true, absolute, and immutable
principles or truths, such as piety, honor, obedience, justice, the Good, beauty, and so forth.
To live an enlightened and blessed one had to free one's self from the domination of the
life,

senses, while clarifying to the point of unambiguous purity the concepts of the higher truths
in our minds. Odd as it may seem, despite this antisensual argument, art — in particular the
depiction of the nude human body —was seen as an aid in the pursuit of truth.
In Plato's dialogue Phaedrus the love for a beautiful youth is described as an aid to

comprehending the higher principles of the mind. Even though love is evoked by the youth's
physical beauty, the latter still provides an insight into the nature of true beauty, an insight
that could lead to the knowledge of other absolute truths or principles planted by the creator
in the mind but nonetheless difficult to access."
It is important to stress that the path opened by physical beauty to true knowledge is

also the path away from sensory or erotic entanglements. Civing in to the senses would
not only debase the relationship of lovers but would further entangle them in the material
worid and obscure their understanding of higher principles. (Hence the popular expression
"Platonic love.”) Without embarrassment, this belief that falling in love could lead to
spiritual enlightenments was revived by several Neoplatonists of the Italian Renaissance."
The idealized male body, especially as exemplified in (he sculpture of antiquity, became a
paradigm of true beauty. This pagan association of virtue and beauty can be sensed in many
ancient sculptures as well as in the works of the ardent Christian and fervent Neoplatonist,
Michelangelo, as in his famous statue of David and his poetry.
In the eighteenth century Renaissance Neoplatonism informed the thought of johann

Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768), the founder of archeology and a prolific writer on

ancient art. While studying Creek sculpture, he decided that the beauty of the Greek
depiction of male bodies was due not to idealization by Greek sculptors but rather to the
perfect bodies of their models, the Greek men of antiquity. Moreover, these men were
more modern men because they were simply better people. The idea that
beautiful than
the contemplation of natural male beauty opened the door to la belle nature the pure and —
eternal idea of nature in the mind —
and that this could lead to other higher truths remained
popular into the second half of the nineteenth century." Thus, through several manifestations
the influence of Plato may be seen lurking beneath the exclusive use of male models in the
(!cole des Beaux-Arts until late in the nineteenth century, which is reflected in the third part
of the Drawing Course."
The ancient statuary of female nudes likewise presented women in an already idealized
—
and ideal form. From the Renaissance on, most artists docile, chaste, timid, or shy— used
ancient statuary as models from which to learn how to pose females and how to depict their
anatomy. In a pinch when dealing with a difficult pose, artists often used a male model—
preferably slightly plump —to pose for a female figure; in addition to substituting a female
head, they made a few bodily adjustments to feminize their drawing, such as adding breasts
nude began to predominate in Western art, its "rarefied
or thickening the hips. As the female
beauty" and purity were praised; the simplification of natural forms through geometry, such
as hemispherical breasts, represented a step toward the ideal, and hence toward moral
thought.
Nonetheless, the counterargument— that viewing an image of a nude woman put the male
viewer in moral peril of experiencing an erotic reaction or of harboring impure thoughts was —
an important and persistent position. Thus, it was argued for centuries that both female and
male nude bodies, if depicted, should be presented in an idealized manner, bereft of direct
erotic stimulus. In France between 1875 and 1881 official censors inspected and approved
prints and photographs of nudes before they could be put on public display or sold in shops.
Despite this review, many approved prints and photos of nudes could not be displayed

in shop windows. After 1881 the police were empowered to arrest those who made an
nude in a shop window, on a magazine or a book cover. If a trial
offensive public display of a
ensued, the defense would usually argue that the nude, no matter how lasciviously depicted,
was purified, with
—
rounded, geometrical, unnatural forms "like a sculpture" and that the —
depiction was aimed at the higher consciousness and consequently was unlikely to arouse
the lower emotions. The defense often won. In 1888 a lawyer defended a nude on the cover
of the magazine Le Courrier (ranqais by pointing out that no genitalia were visible and that
"the marmoreal bust with its imaginary rigidity and strength bears no trace of realism. . .

Isee nothing more here than an admirably pure body, its lines powerful and chaste "“

Even so, students were thought to benefit in some practical sense from this philosophical
preference for male nudes. Human anatomy was believed easier to grasp by observing the
thinner, angular bodies of males than the fuller, rounder figures of females. It was thought
easier to maintain discipline among the usually rowdy students —
all male in most academies

—
and art schools until very late in the nineteenth century when the nude model was a male.
Furthermore the teachers and administrators thought that they were protecting the morals of
 their students by shielding them from the power of the lower, sensual emotions that would be
evoked by the depiction of a nude woman, especially one who was considered "available"
(the popular assumption being that any woman who bared herself for money was of doubtful
virtue). Even after the introduction of female models into the drawing classes in the mid or
late nineteenth century, the general public, artists, and students often regarded and treated
female models as no better than prostitutes.

Practical Matters: Copying the Drawings

As the title of this section indicates, these drawings of posed nude males are meant as
preparation for drawing after live models in a studio. These exercises —the careful, exact

copying of good drawings after a model —are meant

be executed in charcoal, as was
to
the practice when drawing after a model posed in the studio. A good acactemie in charcoal
should take at least fifteen hours, if not longer. Your copy should be developed and finished
according to the steps in the first part (see the section entitled "Suggestions for Copying the
Plates").

These academies are remarkable inventions of Bargue. You will come to appreciate
them more and more as you work with them; your admiration will intensify when you start
—
drawing from live models. Even so, the procedure from schema to outline to shadows was —
not Bargue's invention; it was standard practice in art schools and studios in the nineteenth
century.
The drawings in this part are almost pure outline drawings, without shading or
background; there are only sparse internal indications of anatomical features. Even if you
are fairly advanced and sure of yourself, you should start out with the simpler, early plates,
thereby making sure you grasp Bargue's procedural method.
The two parts of the course were designed to make you see the essential elements
first

of a figure and teach you a procedure for drawing from a model. The drawings in the
third part stress structure and unity as opposed to seeing bodily parts separately. The large

—
factors—character, pose, and proportion are more important than surface detail. A quick
perusal of the pages of the third part discloses just how little internal information Bargue puts
within the outline: faces are left blank and hands and feet are often indicated by schematic
lines. Furthermore, the complexities of the outline of the body are often reduced to straight
lines between points, as in the first schemata for the cast drawings in the first part. Despite
the fact that there is little internal musculature, the figures are both simple and successfully
articulated.

As this is preparatory practice for drawing a nude from life, it is best to simulate the
working conditions of drawing from a model in a studio. (In all the drawings in this part, the
model is assumed to be on a platform at least 40 centimeters (16 inches! in height. This will
put the eyes of a sealed model about level with an artist standing at his easel an ideal height —
for portraiture —and will result in the artist looking up at a standing nude.) This is best done
'
by working with the Bargue academic and your drawing paper side by side or on a wall or on
a straight (not angled) easel. (Students working without instructors should first carefully read
appendix 2. Knowledge of sight-size practices will help students belter understand many of
the suggestions in the comments on the individual plates.)
At times the straight lines with which Bargue first captured the shape of certain parts of
the body may seem like mannerisms, that is, trails or features reflecting a personal style; in

practice these straight lines are tools that indicate the peaks of the planes on the surface

IE
of (he body, which are demarcated by the protruding anatomical features under the skin.
The straight lines do not retain their abstraction in the finished drawing, where they are
usually rounded out to achieve a natural appearance. The schema— the resulting silhouette
of connected outlines — is just the first step. And if you have worked through or from the
plates in part I, you know how to proceed once you have outlined the figure. In part III only

the last few drawings are finished: no shadow line has been developed and filled in and, of
course,no halftones have been recorded. If you were working from a live model, you would
be expected to finish the procedure, to produce a finished drawing with most of the surface
modeled. Bargue teaches you to correctly draw the structure before you start adding the
finishing touches, as well as how to determine the correct proportions of the outside shape of
the subject; otherwise the interior features will not fit in correctly. You may continue making
or checking your estimates by stepping back and measuring them at a distance; eventually
you will make the measurements without a tool. Checking your drawing by comparing it with
the model viewed in a hand mirror is always helpful.
With the Bargue drawing and your drawing side by side, you will soon learn to see errors.
Remember, if these drawings were to be used as models for a painting, any inaccuracies
would be compounded once you tried to fill in the interior. Such strictness is necessary both
to teach you how to see and transcribe a human being's form correctly and to purge your
own practice of any mannerisms or impreciseness that you may have already acquired.
The Drawing Course was published on full folio sheets, about four times as large as the
reproductions in this book. If you are working in charcoal, you should take the book to
a photocopy shop that has a good laser printer and have the drawing you wish to copy
enlarged in color two or three times. It will be easier to see and understand Bargue's linear
decisions in a larger drawing; many details would be virtually impossible to copy in a small
scale, especially in charcoal. If you wish to copy directly from the book, you should work in

Some Notes on Bargue's Style

Bargue's use of straight lines seems intuitive rather than programmatic. In some complex
anatomical areas (calves, knees, elbows, biceps, hands, and feet) he usually uses straight
lines as a deliberate simplification. Whenever there is a lot of information to transcribe, the
outlines of his forms generally tend toward straight lines. Just as often he uses a long, simple,
sensuous and elegant line, slightly curved, taking in several dots. The virtuosity of these
passages makes it seem as if he were performing for us, in comparison to the short, choppy
units in the other passages.
The angles, both concave and convex, that change the contours of the figure imperceptibly
are all based on internal anatomical features: swelling of muscles; attachments of tendons

to bones; emerging surface bones; flexed muscles or fat. Emphasizing the protuberances of
internal anatomical features punctuates the outline, clarifies the inner structure, and gives

fullness to the contours. It takes a good knowledge of anatomy to see and articulate these

features.
Bargue's abstraction of the figure involves more than the simplification of planes and
outlines. Each of his figures has a singular rhythm that subordinates and subsumes the
details — or, rather, unites them: each element supports the overall effect of the pose and the
direction of the gestures.
 Bargue uses overlapping lines to emphasize the structure of the body (as in plate III, 38).
These lines assist in the foreshortening since they indicate one form or muscle is in front
if

of another. Bargue is particularly well versed in the construction of joints and the knee: he
always indicates the patella, the protuberances of the condyles of the fibula and tibia, and
the connecting tendons for the larger leg muscles that anchor themselves around the knee.
Similarly, Bargue often records accented forms caused by folds in the flesh or pits like the
navel, axillae, and the pit of the neck.
Bargue's indication of interior anatomy is almost calligraphic, particularly in the legs.
These indications are drawn with a bit of brio. Some contours are quite refined, with Bargue
recording all the expected changes in curvature (see the legs in plates III, 18, 19, and 37).
Others are drawn in a more economical, "off the cuff" manner. For example, in plate32 III,

Bargue audaciously draws the outer contour of the left leg with a single sweeping arc that is
interrupted only by the bend in the knee; in plate III, 41 the outer side of the right leg is a
sinuous s-curve.

A Repertoire of Traditional Poses

In the many studies in part III Gerome and Bargue have included a repertoire of traditional
poses, some of which might occasionally have been useful to history or narrative painters.
They were certainly useful to students at the £cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, many of whom
intended to compete for the Prix de Rome. A list of the recognizable poses follows.

Rhetorical poses: plates III, 10 and 37.

Allegorical figures: plates III,28 and 40 (melancholy); plate III, 29 (grief or mourning [he
could be holding an urn or a libation vessel)); plate III, 37 (prayer); plate III, 39 (grief); plate
III, 47 (astonishment).
Action figures: plate III, 12 (David with his sling); plate III, 38 (an archer); plate III, 46 (a
man tugging); plate III, 45 (stretching).
Famous figures: plate III, 24, Hippolyte Flandrin's Young Man Seated on a Rock, study
Jeune
( Homme nu assis sur un rocher. Figure delude): plate III, 33, after Michelangelo's
Dying Slave (L'Esclave mourant) (fig. 1 3); plate II, 35, the Dying Caul (Gaulois mourant at the
Capitoline Museum in Rome.
Biblical figures: plate III, 12 (David); plate III, 15 (Saint John the Baptist or a shepherd);
plate III, 18 (a shepherd); plate 36 (Adam expulsed from Paradise); plate III, 42 (Ecce
III,

Homo); plate III, 44 (Abel dead, the dead Christ, or a martyr).

Traditional women's poses: plate III, 17 (examining a bird's nest); plate III, 50 (a bather).
187
190
191
 Plate III, 7

192
 MM

Plate III, 8

193
 Plate III, 9

194
Plate III, 12

197
198
199
 Plate III, 15

200
Plate III, 16

201
 Plate III, 17

202
 Plate III, 19

204
205
206
207
209
 Plate III, 25

210
211
212
213
 Plate III, 29

214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
 Plate III, 43

228
230
231
232
Plate III, 48

233
 Plate III, 49
I

234
235
237
238
239
Notes on the Plates

In.ii.: The French titles Plate III, 1 . Young man, leaning on his right elbow.
used and translated are homme, accoude sur le bras
(Jeune droit.)
the modem inventory
descriptions of the Coupil The first drawing is the most simplified of all the figure drawings reduced to an almost abstract
Museum. In the text "left" figure of straight lines and angles; the emphasis is on proportion. Bargue wants you to begin the
and "right" refer to the left figure with straight lines right from the start. We suggest a plumb line from the bottom of the stand
and right side of the model.] upon which the boy is sitting, through the margin of the stomach, and up the back of the neck.
This is a popular, effective pose for a full-length portrait.

Plate III, 2. Young boy, standing while leaning on a box.

(Jeune garqon, debout accoude a un mur.)
This is a funerary or mourning pose. The weight is divided between the feel and elbows.
Pay attention to the very faint construction lines that travel between the buttocks and the
upper body. Note: the line of the stand is an absolute vertical.

Plate III, 3. Standing man, walking, rear view.

(Homme debout, marchant, de oos.)
This drawing of a fighter is more developed than the previous two: the arms, the hair, and the
shoulders are more detailed; the pose, with its many foreshortening;, is more sophisticated. In
places the outline cuts into the body, following the shape of a muscle. These ovedappings are one
of the techniques Bargue teaches. The outer limits of the scapula are dear on his right side, while
its inner limit is indicated inside the back. The bones of the elbows show through the skin. The

lower part of the raised arm is drawn with two quick, overlapping lines. This is a pure outline, as
if all the light were coming from the front, flattening the form. A light from a window or a lamp

would cast a clear shadow across the body, as in most of the cast drawings in part I. The shadow
line should be drawn first and then the shadow filled in with an even tone; the halftones may be

added next. However, shadows are not recorded in most of the figure drawings of part III. suggest I

a plumb line from the lower tip of the ear, through the knee, to the left toe. When drawing from
nature—such as a studio model— it is best to make your first reference points from the bottom
up. Although it does not make much difference when you are working from a drawing, you might
start forming the habit of doing so now. With a model the position of the feet would be marked

on the stand and would always be in the same place. The rest of the body will sway and move as
the pose settles in. As a consequence, secure reference points taken from the feet will always be
useful and assuring.

Plate III, 4. Standing young man, leaning on a box, front view.

(Jeune homme debout de face, appuyG sur un mur.)
This simple pose, with the emphasis on the outline, has only minor areas of foreshortening.
There are some careful indications of anatomy in the upper body and arms. An important area is

the interlocking of the model’s left hand with the waist. In some areas you can guide yourself by
the distances across empty spaces outside the figure, between limbs and the body (the so-called
negative spaces). A gpocl plumb line could run from the left side of his neck to the top of tlx; little

toe of the standing leg.

240
Plate III, 5. Standing young man leaning on a box while holding up his
left arm, front view.

(Jeune homme debout, de face, appuye sur un mur, levant le bras

gauche.)
The model in this drawing was probably holding onto a pole or a rope suspended from the
ceiling. There is tension in various parts of the body; pay attention to how this tension is shown
and how it affects the anatomy. His right ami is very accurately foreshortened. Leaning on the box
produces a tilt of the rib cage and gives an angle to the hips. An head
axis or medial line through the
and torso will help organize the proportions of the upper body; furthermore, the symmetrical features
of the body will align themselves more or less perpendicular to the line.

Plate III, 6. Standing young man, leaning on a pole, left leg set back,
side view.
(Jeune homme debout, de cote, appuye sur un baton, jambe gauche
en arriere.)

This is a sensuous, serpentine pose with a surprising sense of movement initiated by the act of
looking over the shoulder. There are broad and subtle overlappings along the back and shoulders.
The plumb line can run from the right heel to the back side of the head.

Plate III, 7. Standing young man holding a pole behind himself in his

lefthand.
(Jeune homme debout tenant un baton de la main gauche derriere
lui.)

The young man could lie pulling a sword out of a scabbard, albeit with his left hand. Concentrate
on the rhythms of the muscles in the arm and legs. The plumb line runs from the part of his hair
through his right foot.

Plate III, 8. Standing young man, right hand on his head, rear view.
(Jeune homme debout de dos, main droite sur la tete.)
Tlie angles of the arms and legs ate set in rhythmic response to one another. The main weight
is on the left leg, although equilibrium is maintained by the right leg. The negative spaces are small
but critical since they indicate that the legs are not touching. On the model's back Bargue uses
predominantly straight lines to describe internal structure.

Plate III, 9. Standing young boy holding a pole, head turned toward
the pole.
(Jeune garqon debout tenant un baton, tete tournee vers le baton.)
The only areas of pronounced foreshortening are in the legs and feet. The pole forms a safe
negative space along the boy's right contour,which you can use to check your measurements and
your shapes.
Plate III, 10. Standing man holding out his right hand, rear view.
(Homme debout de dos tendant la main droite.)

This could be the stance of an orator conceding a point (with his hand upturned); or it could
be a repoussoir figure framing the central event of a history painting. The tension of the pose is

describe! in several parts of the outline, particularly in the waist and thighs. The plumb line could
run from the peak of the head to the inside right ankle.

Plate III, 1 1 . Seated man, rear view.

(Homme assis de dos.)
After a popular studio pose, this is a more advanced, lifelike study. The outline is accurate,
especially along the left side of the back, and the upper part of the leg. Light lines describe the
medial line of the figure, and some of the internal structure. The weight of the body is emphasized
by the flat line of the buttock and the bulging flesh above it.

Plate III, 12. Standing young man, right hand on left shoulder.
(Jeune homme debout, main gauche sur epaule droite.)
This could be the biblical David with his sling over his shoulder, getting ready to shift his weight

forward (notice the tilt of the pelvis) for the pitch. The plumb line is from the peak of the head

down. You may need vertical reference lines to assist you in plotting this narrow figure. In a free-
standing pose the head is always positioned over the weight-bearing or standing leg (the other leg
is sometimes referred to as the free or play leg).

Plate 13. Standing young boy holding a pole, legs crossed.

III,

(Jeune garqon tenant un baton, ; ambes croisees.)

The visible hand and the feet are drawn with great clarity and emphasis. Watch the proportions
of the slightly foreshortened left arm. The pole steadies the model and furnishes an extra reference
line from which to judge. This drawing also demonstrates that the head is usually positioned over
the weight-bearing leg (although here it tilts slightly off center due to the support by the pole).

Plate III, 14. Standing young man turning his back, hands crossed
behind him.
(Jeune garqon debout tournant le dos, mains croisees dans le dos.)

This could be a prisoner tied from behind. The angular outline stresses the boniness of the
young body. There are obvious anatomical notations on the back, such as the scapulae, and more
subtle ones on the legs, such as the tendons of the hamstring. The plumb line runs from the top
of the neck to the inner right ankle.
Plate III, 15. Standing older man leaning against a stand while holding
a pole.
(vieil homme debout adosse a un mur tenant un biton.)
The vague support—a wall or a stand— is dearly improvised; nevertheless sketch it in so that
you will not forget how the weight is distributed in the stance. Observe how a faint line has
organized the angles of the man's lower chest and belly. This observation relates nicely to the
method taught in part I. Moreover, there are many negative spaces to help further organize the
limbs. The plumb line runs from the peak of the head to the right toe.

Plate III, 16. Seated man, leaning on a wall.

(Homme assis, accoude sur un mur.)
There are few The seated young man leans back against a
straight lines in this splendid pose.

table, so that all of the body recedes: the face is back, the hip forward. Study the position of the

back and the upper torso. There are many good lessons in foreshortening in the drawing: one leg
comes forward, the other goes back; the torso leans away from the viewer, the head is behind the
shoulder; and the right arm reaches back, foreshortening the upper arm as well as the forearm.

Plate III, 1 7. Seated young boy, holding an object in front of him in his
hands.
(leune gar$on assis, tenant un objet devant lui dans ses mains.)

This is a moody pose, as if the boy were reading his fortune in a teacup. All the forms are lean
and sinuous. His left leg, however, is in an inelegant view (a situation that often arises when models
are carelessly posed and may be inevitable when many students work from the same model).
Relate the right leg to the left as you draw.

Plate III, 18. Standing young man leaning on a pole.

( Jeune homme debout appuye sur un biton.)
This is a shepherd's pose. The young man is not so graceful as some of the other models; his
legs are knobby and long. Pay attention to the articulation of the elbows and knees, which are
described by Bargue with overlapping lines.

Plate III, 19. Standing young man, frontal view, with hand on chin.
(
Jeune homme debout de race, main sur le menton.)
This could be either a pensive or pugilistic pose. Is he sizing up his opponent or simply
dreaming? Although the model has articulated fingers, the toes are summarily indicated. The
loincloth is elegant in that it does not obscure the silhouette. Part of each arm is in foreshortening.
Study the marks that Bargue makes for internal features. Usually they describe the boundaries of
major anatomical forms as well as the center lines of the torso. The plumb line runs from the right
comer of the face to the inner ankle of the model's left foot.
Plate III, 20. Standing young boy leaning on a stand, left leg crossed
behind the right leg.
(Jeune garqon debout accoude a un mur, jambe gauche croisee
derriere la droite.)
In this highly developed drawing, the arms,
hair, shoulders, legs, and feet are all detailed. The

pose is body are arranged in interesting juxtapositions. Notice the

sophisticated; the parts of the
overlapping of muscles on the measure the foreshortening of the reclining upper
legs. Carefully
arm. The several negative spaces can be used as guides to the shapes around them. Such sharp
lines show the angles produced by the bones, whereas the softer lines show muscle and fat.

Plate III, 21. Seated young man, three-quarter view, hair somewhat
long.
(Jeune homme assis, trois quarts, cheveux mi-longs.)
The slump of the torso is shown by curves, the boniness of the arms and legs by straight lines.
Bargue's main interest is in the upper body, particularly in the tension of the supporting left arm.
The plumb line runs from the peak of his face to the side of the box. This helps in measuring the
distance from the box to the left toe, and so forth. In addition to a plumb line, extra horizontal
reference lines (all perpendicular to the plumb line) would help to organize the various areas, say,
through the top of the box under the buttocks and through the navel and left elbow.

Plate 22. Man in profile, leaning to

III, the right.
(Homme de profit, penchant a droite.)
This is a pose with some action or movement indicated. It is a successful drawing, especially
in the forms of the two arms. It is important to transcribe the negative spaces accurately. The
tension between the left and right side of the contour is subtle and sensitive; small deviations
in the contours may detract from the roundness of the figure. Work from side to side across the
form and notice the variety of the contours. Normally a depression on one side will be paired
with a swelling on the other. Again, some well-placed horizontals will help divide the figure into
manageable areas.

Plate III, 23. Standing man, right hand on a stand.

(Homme debout, main droite pos6e sur un mur.)
pose the head tilts back with a hopeful expression. The left knee
In (his classic is locked to
indicate support and the belly protrudes forward gently, adding grace and movement to the pose.
You need horizontals here as well as a plumb line.

Plate III, 24. Man seated upon the ground, his head on his knees.
(Homme assis sur le sol, tete sur les genoux.)
The youth in this splendid drawing holds a pose similar to that in the famous painting of 1836
by Hippolyte Flandrin entitled Young Nude Roy Seated by the Sea, study (/ei/ne homme nu assis au
bord de la mer. Elude), in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The areas of greatest interest are his right

arm and hands, the vertebrae on the back of the neck, and the blocky feet. You'll need horizontals
as well as a plumb line to organize your work.

Plate III, 25. Standing man, seen from behind.

(Homme debout de dos.)
A back view is always difficult because of the ever-changing morphology of bones, muscles, and
fat. This is an older model, and the muscles and fat under the skin have sagged in a few places.
The weight displacement is on his left leg, throwing the left hip up and the right one down. The

foreshortened right foot is obscured, making it difficult to copy. You have to measure the angle of
the foot from a horizontal. Bargue's attention to structure and the shift of bodily weight is as refined
as his subtle notations of age. This drawing is a splendid example of the mixture of the idealist and
realist interests of the Academic Realists.

Plate III, 26. Standing young man, holding a pole in his left hand while
looking at it.
(Jeune garqon debout, tenant un baton de sa main gauche et le
regardant.)

This b a well-developed drawing with accurate proportions. The gesture is subtle: the boy looks
up toward the pole in his left hand (as if he were admiring a banner lost to our view); he shifts

his weight to the right leg, and moves his left leg back. As a result, his shoulders and hips tilt at

opposing angles. Opposing angles similarly animate the fingers, which are carefully arranged on
his left hand.

Plate III, 27. Standing man, in profile, holding out his open left hand.
(Homme debout de profit tenaant la main gauche ouverte.)
This subtle drawing emphasizes the placing of the weight on the model's left leg. The head is
dear in its turn and structure. The hand bent back by the akimbo arm is noteworthy; the other
—
hand held in a position that a model would find hard to maintain seems to have given Bargue —
trouble. This hand appears to have been added later; its gesture is not supported by any connection
with the body, which inevitably makes it look too large. Such an effect was perhaps unavoidable
given this pose. The classical rule is to choose a view in which all major joints are visible.

Plate III, 28. Young man seated on a box, his right hand supporting his
head.
(Jeune garqon assis sur une caisse, main droite soutenant la tete.)
Traditionally a cheek resting on the hand of a seated figure represents melancholy. The most
famous examples are Durer's 1514 engraving Melancholia I and Rodin's 1 880 statue The Thinker
(Le Pemeur). Melancholy is one of the traditional four humors (or temperaments) that determine

human physiognomy and The humors were an integral |iart of the Neoplatonic-
personality.
system; even today they are embedded, albeit discreetly, in popular astrology. The emphasis is
on the supporting left arm; notice the taut deltoid and scapula. Faint construction lines are visible
throughout, and there are indications of the ulna and patellae. The hand is carefully blocked out to
show its importance and to balance it with the foreshortened arm and hand holding up his head.
Use horizontal reference lines as needed.

Plate III, 29. Young man in profile holding a ball.

(Jeune homme de profit tenant une balle.)

The figure holds a ball, putting the biceps of the arm in flexion to support the weight; the
tension runs down the right side of the body through the locked knee. The far side of the body,
not bearing the weight, is relaxed and lowered. The entire torso from buttock to neck is exemplary.
The chest, belly, and thigh are described by a single curved line.

Plate III, 30. Standing man in three-quarter view, holding a pole with
both hands, his left leg crossed over the right.
(Homme debout de trois quarts, tenant un baton a deux mains pied ,
gauche croise devant le pied droit.)
This drawing of a mature man with fairly well developed anatomy emphasizes gesture and
movement. Compare him with other models, such as in plate III, 33, and note how his contours
differ from the younger men. The right foot seems to be an undeveloped thought.

Plate III, 31. Seated man in profile, his hands crossed on his left knee.
( Homme assis en profit, les mains croisees sur genou gauche.)
This an excellent example of a well-proportioned figure with judicious indications of anatomy.
is

The negative shapes are dear and therefore helpful. The foremost leg is accurately drawn. The
arms are twisted over one another. Make sure you pay attention to the rhythms in the outlines
of the legs and arms by predsely placing the high and low parts of their curves, all the while
comparing one side of the contour to the other. Draw the left and right sides at the same lime,
using the internal indications of anatomy to guide you.

Plate III, 32. Standing young man, right arm resting on his head.
(Jeune homme debout, bras droit pos6 sur la fete.)

When copying this model remember that the two legs are on different planes!

Plate III, 33. Standing man, right hand on his chest, left hand on his
head.
(Homme debout, main droite sur le poitrine, main gauche sur la tete.)

The model imitates the pose of Michelangelo's Dying Slave (Vtxlave mouranO in the Louvre
Museum in Paris (studied in plate III, 30 and shown complete in fig 1 3). The view is higher than

in the other drawings. Notice how the feet steady the body, as if he were standing on an incline.
Be sure to maintain the character of the model's maturity throughout the drawing- his limbs are
thickerand more muscular than those of a youthful body. The drawing of the right arm and of the
right leg is noteworthy.
Plate III, 34. Standing young man, turning his head to the left, right
hand extended.
(Jeune homme debout, tournant la tete vers la gauche, main droite
tendue.)
This very exciling drawing combines (he subtlety and grace of the conlrapposto pose with an
extended, foreshortened, and accurately viewed right arm. It exemplifies several qualities of a good
drawing, combining an interesting pose, a legible mood, clear anatomy, and a simplified line.

Plate III, 35. Half prone man, holding himself up on his hands.
(Homme presque allonge se soutenant de ses bras.)
The pose echoes that of the famous Dying Caul (ca. 190 B.C.) in the Capitoline Museum
in Rome. Each arm bears weight in a different manner. The foreshortened leg, must be copied

exactly. Throughout, the information —

external and internal —
is very subtle. The boy was probably

first inscribed within a triangle of construction lines, with a plumb line through one side of the head

and left hand. Try to imagine such geometrical shapes around your figures as you were trained to
do in the cast drawings (see comments to plate I, 5).

Plate 36. Standing man in

III, profile, hiding his face in his hands.
(Homme debout de profit, se cachant le visage dans les mains.)

The pose is for Adam being expulsed from Paradise; it is a rhetorical pose, with codified
gestures. It could be used for anyone in despair or grief. Throughout this section Bargue helps the
student develop a repertoire of archetypal poses. Learn to distinguish their individual qualities;
consider how figures can communicate meaning and emotion.

Plate III, 37. Standing man, left hand on his chest, right hand
extended.
(Homme debout, main gauche sur la poitrine, main droite en arriere.)
The man strides forward, looking up as if imploring someone and putting his hand on his
chest to demonstrate his sincerity. Note the grace of the extended arm and the carefully posed
fingers. This pose is traditional and, although rhetorical, it is full of emotion. The fact that a pose is
traditional does not mean worn out and useless; a good artist can infuse standard iconography
it is

with fresh expression by rethinking and experiencing the emotion, resulting in a figure that is
legible and communicative.

Plate III, 38. An archer.

(Homme tirant a I'arc.)

This drawing emphasizes the archer's balance and the muscular tension throughout his body
—especially in his arms and upper body—as he pulls the bowstring back.
Plate III, 39. Seated man, hiding his face in his hands.
(Homme assis, se cachant le visage dans les mains.)
The student must learn to draw the figure in a variety of poses—seated, lying down, leaning—
with each position presenting specific problems. This pose is complex, containing more detailed
observation than hitherto. Be careful to preserve the relationship of height and width so that the
negative spaces retain their descriptive quality. Also pay attention to the breaks and overiappings
in the contour.

Plate III, 40. Standing man, right hand on his chin, left hand behind
his back.
(Homme debout, main droite sur le menton, main gauche dans le
dos.)
Since antiquity the gesture of the hand to the chin has traditionally symbolized pensive
contemplation. Among the problems that should be noted, the arms are both rather cumbersome
in their foreshortening. Although the right arm is well drawn, theleft elbow seems out of place.

The upper torso looks small relative to the hip, legs, ami head. Assume this pose and check the
appearance of your arms in a mirror, or ask a friend to assume the pose for you. The rhythms of
the legs are well conceived and the disposition of weight seems logical.

Plate Standing young man, left hand resting on a stand, right

III, 41 .

hand akimbo.
(Jeune homme debout, main gauche pos4e sur un mur, main droite
sur les reins.)
This is an assertive pose. The young boy stands alongside the box, with one hand resting on it.
Between the weight of the hand on the box and the weight on his standing leg, an equilibrium is
established which resounds throughout the body. The concavity of his right side emphasizes the jut
of the pelvisand then quickly turns into the convexity of the buttock. A good plumb line would run
down the center of his body, from the pit of his neck through his navel. Note how many straight
notations have been turned into curves.

Plate III, 42. Standing young man, hands crossed over his waist.
(Jeune homme debout, mains croisees sur le ventre.)

Here is another bound prisoner, this time with his arms in front. This could also be Christ, either
presented to the populace in the traditional £cce homo iconography, or being baptized by John the
Baptist. The drawing is a good example of anatomical articulation, particularly in the legs around
the knees and cakes.

Plate III, 43. Man leaning against a stand, face lifted up.
(Homme appuye le long d'un mur, visage vers le haut.)

This is a very relaxed pose seen from a low position. The leg; are strong, the fingers nicely
posed and spaced, and there are great subtleties of observation in the outline of his left side, from
shoulder to groin. Note the depiction of his weight-bearing right hand.
Plate III, 44. Supine young man.
(leune homme allong6.)
A supine young man with foreshortening effects across his whole body. This is a pose often
used for the dead Christ, the dead Abel, and various martyrs. Use vertical reference lines to divide
the body into manageable portions; for example, from the ends of the fingers of the right hand up
through the thighs. Continue relating one part of the body to the other.

Plate III, 45. Standing man, his hands behind his head, looking up.
(Homme debout, mains derriere la fete, visage en haut.)
This is a wonderful drawing of a man stretching. The relatively low placement of the ears assists
the foreshortening of the head. Muscular rhythms play throughout the body. Very light interior
lines show features of the anatomy, such as theunder part of the chin. On both sides you can see
the insertion of the latissimus dorsi into the armpit. The left leg is seen from the medial angle, that
is, from the inside, and should be much wider than the right leg, seen from the front, which it is

Plate III, 46. Man pulling on a rope.

(Homme tirant une corde.)
This drawing depicts a man —with a rather small —
head for his body pulling on a rope. The
gesture suggests that he is pulling against someone. The right pelvis has dropped and the left
buttock is compressed as a result of the physical effort. The tapering of the right bicep into the
forearm is drawing an action, pay attention to the muscles that are working.
precisely noted. In
They contract and change their forms: muscles are shorter and fuller in flexion and leaner and
longer in extension.

Plate III, 47. Standing man, arms spread out.

(Homme debout, bras ecartes.)
This pose amid represent surprise or astonishment. This is a very developed drawing even
without a face. Notice the guiding schematic lines of the hands: Bargue groups the fingers together
rather than drawing them individually. This example provides an extremely good drawing lesson:
you see indications of the sternum, the knees, and the ankles. Bargue does not want you to
forget where the Ixrnes are. He has caught the movement of the figure in all the limbs. Note the

foreshortening of the right forearm and of the left upper arm. Academies in the nineteenth century
usually had ropes hanging from the ceiling to help the models maintain such poses.

Plate III, 48. Standing young man, three-quarter rear view, crossed
arms.
(Jeune homme debout, trois quarts de dos, bras croises.)

This drawing shows a bystander in pensive mood. The young man has fine legs, broad buttocks,
and faintly defined should^ muscles. From thispoint on the facial features are included, and the
internal anatomical features arc better described than in previous examples.
APPENDIX 2: The Sight-Size Technique

An Experienced and Teacher

Artist Using Sight-Size to Copy the Bargue Plates

Defines the Sight-Size Technique

The use of sight-size recommended in all three
technique is

In the course of a letter exchange about the sight-size parts of the course. It is basically a method of drawing in which

technique, Peter Bougie, who has been teaching the procedure the image produced has the same dimensions on paper as the
to his students in his Minneapolis. Minnesota, atelier for years, apparent dimensions of the subject. There are several advantages
sent me this fine explanation of the technique: to this technique when it is followed correctly. It produces an
accurate transcription of the subject in the same size in which it

common method of working for both students and

is perceived. This permits continuous comparison of the drawing
accomplished artists prior to the twentieth century,
during which it fell into disuse in most art education with the model. Once students have become proficient in the use
settings. The term "sight-size" refers to making a of sight-size, they can easily correct their own work. The practice
drawing the size it would be if projected onto a plane of the sight-size technique also increases a student's ability to
extending left or right from your drawing board
estimate accurately the apparent measurements of the subject
and intersecting your line of sight. This enables the
artist to look at the subject and the drawing from a and transfer them correctly to paper. This talent soon becomes
chosen vantage point and see them side by side instinctive; it is the greatest gift of practicing sight-size. Both
and appearing to be the same size. A plumb line [see —
being able to correct oneself and being able to estimate
abilities
glossary) is established for measuring widths on the
subject from an established point, and a hand-held
measurements—give the beginning student a sense of confidence.
plumb line is used to line up features of the subject For beginners, the advantages of the sight-size technique are so
with the corresponding features of the drawing. This great that it is recommended here, especially for students working
enables the artist to make very objective, virtually
alone. Although intended for drawing from nature, that is, from
absolute, comparisons of shape and proportion. It
is a superlative learning tool because it helps the three-dimensional objects, it is easily adapted to the copying
student see objectively how what he or she has done of drawings. Using sight-size technique would standardize the
compares to nature: that is, is the knee too high or approach to all three tasks presented in the course (viz. working
too low? Has the width measurement to the end of
from casts, copying drawings, and drawing academies) and, in
the nose been placed too far from the vertical plumb
line or too near to it? If you want the answer to general, would be a proper preparation for the first drawing from
either question, pick up the plumb line and see for live models using the technique.
yourself. The technique is an excellent tool because
it establishes a common vantage point, an objective

point of view, between student and teacher. There is

no place for arguments-about relative point of view, How Old is the Technique?
for the teacher and the student look at the subject
from the same point of view, and the teacher is There is endless debate among the practitioners aboul how old
able to point out errors and incorrect observations
the technique is and about who practiced it. Some adherents have
objectively, and so help the student to see and
understand what is really there, instead of offering attempted to resurrect an ennobling lineage of artists who used
vague generalities about whether or not something the method, much like Renaissance dukes and popes extending
feels right or wrong. Finally, it is an excellent
their family trees back to Hercules. As a methodical studio practice
working method for any artist who wishes to use it
working directly from in a controlled setting,
it seems to be a late nineteenth-century development. Although
in life
because once you have mastered it you are able to there are many instances where one unselfconsciously uses it

fix solid reference points on a drawing or painting not as a method but as a natural approach — say, in portraiture
quickly,
.
and save yourself a lot of misapplied effort.
Sight-size is a well known and proven method for
.
or capturing figures at a distance — it is best as an atelier practice.

taking measurements in a setting where the model Tbe examination of many etchings, drawings, paintings, and
is posed, or the subject is stationary. It's a tool. It is photographs of early ateliers in session —some as far back as the
no more theoretical than a pencil or a paintbrush.
It's useful when it's used in the right way. Above
Renaissance —depict none of the upright easels necessary for the
practice of sight-size. In many other depictions of older ateliers,
all. the sight-size method is used to help students

develop and improve their “eye” and. as they one constantly sees younger students seated on the ground, with
advance, their problem-solving skills. their drawing boards in their laps.*-

318
 Necessary Conditions for Sight-Size Practice
First, the object drawn and the paper upon which the object’s appearance is Fig. 44.
transcribed must remainstable. Also, the drawing board on the easel must be precisely The Shadow Box
upright and the easel stable— in the same position on the floor—for the entire time the left : the setup of the box with a cast.

drawing takes to complete, which Right floor plan of setup indicating the
may be several weeks. The light upon the object
:

marked, working fool position.

should always be a stable, directional, light or, if coming from a window, always from the
Drawing; Graydon Parrish
same northern exposure. This means that the space or room must maintain the same
setup until the drawing is finished.
Second, the observing position of the as he or she studies the object and the
artist

drawing must always be the same. The observing position is usually at a comfortable
distance from the setup and the easel, say, three times the largest dimension of the
drawing (to reduce the angle of distortion) and at a spot where the drawing paper and
the subject are visually side by side.
.Mark the position of your feet on the floor with tape, indicating the position of each
foot. The feet are best planted at shoulder-width distance from each other; this increases
your steadiness. Plant your feet in position, lock your knees, and stand up straight each

31!
time you step back to observe the subject or the drawing. Wear should be positioned behind the easel, at some distance from

the same shoes throughout the drawing process. Even the slightest which both could easily be seen, so that the apparent height of

change of view—such as higher or lower heels —can affect your the model would fit upon the sheet of the drawing paper.
view and your judgment.
Note: Never draw the object while looking directly at it;
Drawing After a Cast: Positioning the Drawing
always study it from the same place and distance, and draw from
memory, aided by your measured marks. After the cast has been set up in the shadow box, the light

adjusted, and the easel placed with (lie drawing board and paper

Excursus: Shadow Boxes on it set properly next to the shadow box, (he drawing process
can The placement of the paper at the edge of the drawing
start.

A shadow box is usually used for cast drawings. You will be board (on the model's side) and the drawing board at the easel

copying from drawing; already made from a cast. Even so, it is edge view of the model) will make it easier to make
(close to the

good to know how these cast drawings were made since this measurements from the subject and to make visual comparisons
will help you when you switch from the Bargue cast drawings to of your work and the cast (rig. 45).
actual casts. Step 1: Draw two horizontals across the paper that define the

The shadow box used for the cast setup is a small, three-sided height of the cast. Since you need a plumb line while drawing
box with a bottom but no top, and two adjacent vertical sides. the figure, the string of the plumb line is the handiest tool for this
It can be built from scratch or reconstructed from a wooden box step.*
1
Use your thumbnails to mark the visible distance on the
(see fig. 44). The box, of course, rests on a solid stand or table taut string.
that elevates it to easel height, so that when you stand in position Stretch the string between two hands horizontally across the

you are looking at the center of the object. Line the box with peak of the head of the model and over the drawing paper.
black paper or doth to absorb light and thereby lessen reflected Memorize the path of the line of the string across the paper; step
shadows on the cast. (Some users prefer a middle-gray toned —
forward and mark the path one or two marks will suffice.
paper or cloth to lessen the depth of the shadows.) Light from a Step back and use the string of your plumb line to check the
northern window or a lamp should create the best effect for the mark for accuracy; then lower the string' and repeat the process
draftsman: clarity of form, outline, and a sense of drama are to for the lowest point of the feet; do not lower your head for this

be sought after. While working on the plates in part I you will find measurement, just your eyes.
examples of various ways to manage lights. Stand back again and check the marks by holding up the string
To repeat, all these arrangements must remain absolutely stable across the drawing and the cast again. Draw a horizontal through

throughout the drawing process. Slight changes in the position of each of the marks, top and bottom.
the light or the cast can make it impossible to continue a drawing Step 2: Decide on the placement of the cast's image upon the
on the
already in progress. Trace the outline of the base of the cast paper by estimating its width using the taught string or your eye.
bottom of the shadow box just in case the cast gets moved. Measure the width of the cast at its widest point from your set
Using sticks fastened to the sides of the box, hang a plumb standing position. Move the extended string over to the paper;
line in front of the cast. Position it so that it cuts through the cast decide where it fits most comfortably, but not too far from the
somewhere in the middle and crosses through some important edge of the paper nearest the cast. Mark both ends on the paper.
reference or angle points. This real plumb line will be the same Check your measurements.
as the plumb line (vertical reference line) around which your Step .3. Draw a plumb line (a vertical reference line) from the
drawing will be organized. It may take some time to set the cast top line to the bottom line. It should be drawn well enough inside
up in the shadow box. the width limits you have previously set up.
In drawing from a cast, that is, making a life-size transcription Use the string of the plumb line again to check the width
of the cast, the drawing paper on its easel will be placed alongside of the figure and its placement on the paper before you draw
and just slightly ahead of the subject in the shadow box. If the the plumb line on the paper. You must first pick out the plumb
subject is a cast or a still life, it should be in a setup, either on a line you want on the subject, a line, say, following the center
stand or in a shadow box. When drawing a live model, the model of balance, preferably one that passes through many or several

320
useful points on the cast. This can be found and preserved by dropping another plumb line in Fig. 4S.
Sight-Size rec/mitjue.
front of the cast from a stick fastened to theshadow box. Judge where to hang the line from
Left: measuring apparent distances.
your foot position.
Right: finding an appropriate plumb line
Return to the location of the broadest width that you used earlier when deciding where to
(vertical reference linel; or checking for
place your drawing on the paper. Find by measurement where the actual plumb line on the vertical elements and angle alignments.
cast is within that measured width and find the same spot on your drawing by measuring again Both figures are meant to be working
with your string. Draw the perpendicular through that spot, making sure that it is square with from the same marked fool position on
the floor.
the top and bottom horizontal lines.
Drawing: Craydon Parrish
As you continue, you must always look at the figure or subject from the same vantage point
and with the same stance — feet in position, legs and amis locked and steady, as you hold out
the measuring string or needle. With your head always in the same position, look with one
eye—always the same eye. You want the middle of the drawing to be straight in front of you.
When you look down at the model's feet, for instance, don't drop your head, just your eye.
These small practices will soon become habitual and will save you much aggravation.

321
 Drawing After a Cast: Once a full contour is drawn, it should be carefully checked
—through measurement and study all the way around —before
Measuring Apparent Distances features on the inside of the form are put in. Studying your
drawing or comparing it with the model in a mirror will help

Before beginning, measure Ihe model from the plumb line

you uncover errors. (A mirror should always be kept handy for

to the widest and lowest points. (1) Look for an important angle, checking your drawing.) Refine the outline several times before

concave or convex, on the contour of the model. From your filling in the curves, putting lines in for the major shadow; then
(2)

marked floor position, hold up your plumb line string and make revise the outline again. Once you fill in the major shadow shape,

sure that you are holding it horizontally by comparing it with the

you will see that the contour needs further adjustment.

top and bottom horizontals on the drawing paper. (3) Pick an

Keep your dimensions accurate and light: if the figure spreads

important point that will help define the shape of the image. Start just a bit, you will have difficulty fitting the features into the

with the extremities and extended limbs. Move the string—still

outline and you may even lose the sense of an organic whole.
held horizontally —over the point you wish to record. (4) Make Where it is hard to measure visually, you can resort to a tool for

a mark on Ihe plumb line where the horizontal string passes measurements again. Remember that a slightly wider, inaccurate

through it and the angle on the cast Take the length of string
neck may change a young boy into a mature man.
(held tightly between the two fingers of your extended hands)
and measure the distance from the angle on the cast between
your thumbnails and the plumb line hanging before the cast. (5)
Drawing After Flat Models:
Keeping your arms extended and the string taut, move the string
over the drawing paper; one end of the string shoukl be over Bargue's Plates
the mark on the drawn plumb line, while the other will be over
The Bargue plates in parts I and III were drawn from the fixed
the paper where the contour mark should be. Memorize that
point of view of a stable model; they might have been drawn
spot. Step forward and mark it lightly. Step back and check the
placement with the extended plumb
with sight-size technique or a version of it. One of the main
accuracy of line.

Work
its

way around the figure you have the shape

benefits of working in sight-size —besides the production of an
this

circumscribed by dots; when you

until

are certain they are all

accurate image — is the training it gives the eye in measuring visual
dimensions. Both to prepare yourself to work from casts and
correctly measured and placed, you may connect the dots with
models in sight-size and to benefit from this training of the eye, it
straight lines. You can make lines through the plumb line for the
is wise to adapt as much of the sight-size technique as possible to
slant of the shoulders, hips, or other features. Adding another
the copying of the plates.
horizontal or perpendicular vertical may help you deal with some
Place the plate and the drawing paper side by side on a
difficult areas. The measuring, placing, and correcting of dots is
drawing board, an upright easel, or preferably on a well-lit wall.
cumbersome at first, but as you learn the method you will be
Locate a good plumb line on the drawing. (You can tape a piece
able to pick out fewer and better points on the contours to work
of string in position over the image for the plumb line and for the
from and to estimate distances more quickly —sometimes with top and bottom horizontals.) Transfer them to the drawing. Set
your eye alone. Since there is a lot of stepping back to measure
up comfortable foot positions centered on a line perpendicular to
and forward to mark or erase a spot, you should have in your
the juncture of the plate and the paper. Using the foot positions
hand at all times the pencil or charcoal, the plumb line, and the
will you used to judging measurements from a distance with
get
eraser so that you can switch instruments without losing your
a plumb line, memorizing them, stepping forward to record
concentration.
them, and stepping back to correct them. Try to do as much of
Be sure to make these first connection lines straight. The
your work as possible in this manner. At times copying details
curves can be worked out later. The greater the amplitude of the
dose up be necessary, but always step back to judge your
curve, the —
more straight lines connected by points— you will
will

work. Stepping back also keeps you conscious of the effect of the
need to outline the curve. One fundamental of Bargue's method
whole, which you can further ascertain using a minor. Check your
is the simplification of complex curves into straights; if one starts
shadow masses in a black mirror.
drawing a curve, one tends to draw an arc, and it is hard to know
where to stop. (As your eye gels experienced, you will be able to

connect some of the dots by curves.)

322
 Pros and Cons Concerning the Sight-Size Technique:
A Dialogue

way of drawing might make practitioners model-bound and Fig. 46. Terminology and Concerns in
Using sight-size as the only
Working from a Cast or Live Model. The
interfere with their depiction of objects from memory. Since models are incapable of holding
example is taken from the Pblykleitan
dynamic poses for mote than a few minutes, it may delay learning the elements that give
male torso, back view (see plate 1, 561.
motion to a drawing. In addition to increasing the student's dependence upon the model, it
Annotations: Graydon Parrish
also creates a dependence upon ideal conditions—typically those encountered in a studio

such as a controlled light source, an uncluttered and neutral background, and a model
trained to hold long poses on a raised platform. However, it does not hinder the depiction of
subjects larger or smaller than life size because there are several easy mechanical means of
enlarging or diminishing drawn images.

32:
 Peter Bougie, the artist responsible for the fine definition of the sight-size technique at the
beginning of this appendix, discussed the merits and disadvantages of the practice with me in
an exchange of letters in 2001, from which several excerpts follow. In response to my comment
about the innumerable times one wanted to draw something when a sight-size setup (particularly

an upright easel) was not feasible, he replied:

"On the slant of the easel. I'll only put in this two cents' worth: a vertical easel is necessary for
two reasons. One is so you can step back and look at the subject and draw (with both the subject
and drawing in view) side by side without moving your head up and down or left and right. Two,

since you're working from a fixed vantage point and measuring, your drawing becomes distorted
the more your easel tips away from the vertical, because the top of the drawing is closer to the
subject than the bottom.
"Sight-size is very useful in many ways but has definite limitations. It's a good teaching tool
and we insist that everyone use it because it sharpens the beginner's eye for proportion relatively

quickly and provides an objective context in which to work. It's good for use in the studio in a

controlled setting, but it's impractical for landscape painting (not theoretically, but in practical
terms) or making studies from life on the fly." I've also noticed that for some students who are naive
(in their drawing experience), or of a strong logical mindset, sight-size gels in the way of seeing
when they reach a certain point in their development. They will use the plumb line toomuch and
their eye not enough. I've always thought that sight-size gets you dose to where you want to go,
in terms of seeing nature correctly, but you don't step back and compare what you've done to
if

what you see, it can trip you up. In an acadOmie study, if you have a head that’s 1/32 or 2/32 too
big and a width across the shoulders that is about that much too narrow, the head will look quite
large, and you can stand there with your plumb line for an hour and be unable to measure those
small fractions with any confidence. You'll just think the head looks big and you won’t know why
unless you interrelate the parts. So you have to look and compare; that’s what comes down to. it

And any artist worth his salt ought to regularly practice sitting down with a pad on his lap, or some
flat surface, to develop a capacity for gathering information that way, if for no other reason than
that situations often call for it.

"I hope I haven't been too didactic. Finally, it's whatever works. But, in my opinion, that
'whatever' has to be grounded in some solid method, or it sounds a lot like the kind of vague
instruction people pay for in so many of the art programs out there these days.”
"You cut the Gordian knot for me," I replied. "The knot was in my head." Then I continued:
"Sight-size is great for teaching observation and precision. It is also wonderful in teaching
because the correction can be precise. I find a problem in sight-size: if carried on too long, the
students become model-bound and limited to the poses they can set before them. This keeps
them from attempting motion, some expressions, interactions between personages, etc. They
just draw and paint models sitting, lying, or standing around. (Chrome complained that he often
couldn't get the good charcoal renderers out of the life class and into painting.) But, still, if you
want to be an exacting realist, sight-size shows you the way.
"The Florence Academy of Art (under Daniel Craves) has evening free drawing sessions where
the students draw after models with their drawing boards on their laps, a slanted or a straight easel,
whatever. These freewheeling sessions occur two or three nights a week, with poses of fifteen

minutes to an hour. You stand or sit where you can. I did not realize that this exercise was a natural
corrective to the habits of the sight-size technique that were picked up in the daytime sessions at
the school.
“The Bargue course, with its mixture of casts and academies, is set up like the private ateliers
of the French academy. In Paris the students drew alternately from casts of antiquities and from
models, three weeks for each in turn. In Florence students draw from the cast for half a day
and from models for the other half. Consequently one could personally move toward realism
or idealism in one's personal style. Usually one stopped somewhere in between. Being a purist

in either direction could put your style in a straightjacket. Bargue gives you both casts of perfect
bodies and parts in the first section and a variety of body types—including the nonideal, aged
body— in the third part.
"I am not against other methods nor a partisan of any (although I do naturally prefer and
understand best what I was taught, but must protect myself from being dogmatic about it); I

think that different methods of drawing from life should just be called methods, none the 'one
way,' and that the principles should be recognized as part of the method that organizes work and
observation, not as absolutes. The payoff will always be the results.

To which Mr. Bougie replied: "You're right about the shortcomings of sight-size — it's strictly for

working in controlled situations, and it does breed a dependence on the model. I'm going to liy

having students do more work from flat copy of expressive figures, figures in motion, and so on, to
try to bridge the gap between the study of nature and its application to making pictures. In doing
that.I'm going to compare the two and try to show people how they differ. The trick will be to
keep them on track with both the observation and the learning about convention without having
the limitations of each method pollute the other, that is, become shortcuts, excuses, or mannerisms
in the hands of the inexperienced."