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Male Model sawing, E888

Explanation

  • Antoni Oeszczynski has drawn the man with the saw after a male model and then made the print. The man’s muscles and movement are precisely described in a stringent composition in which the figure forms a triangle. “Etude Académique” is the title beneath the picture. In the academies of fine art, the young artists drew from male models once they had developed their skills by drawing from plaster casts of ancient sculptures. The professors in the Academy decided on the positions to be adopted by the models. Studies of the human body – its proportions, build and movement – were accorded the highest priority. The studies were turned into biblical motifs containing many figures or into motifs based on other highly respected literary models. Oeszczynski was Polish and had trained in the Academy of Fine Art in St. Petersburg, where he became a professor. On 5.12.1829, he wrote a letter from Paris to Thorvaldsen in Rome in which, according to the text, he enclosed a print. Everything suggests this was the print. Oeszczynski wanted to become a member of the Roman academy of fine art, the Accademia di San Luca, in which Thorvaldsen held the title of professor. The model demonstrates Oeszczynski’s skill, and the text beneath the picture gives an account of his position.

Dimension

  • Height (plate size) 450 mm
  • Height (paper size) 535 mm
  • Width (plate size) 340 mm
  • Width (paper size) 425 mm