Ausschreitende Figur mit vor der Brust verschränkten Armen und leicht nach vorn gebeugtem Oberkörper, dazu über das Blatt verstreute Federproben 

Curator: This pen and ink drawing, residing here at the Städel Museum, is titled "Ausschreitende Figur mit vor der Brust verschränkten Armen und leicht nach vorn gebeugtem Oberkörper, dazu über das Blatt verstreute Federproben" by Jacob de Wit. Editor: The figure’s pose really grabs me, all coiled energy. It feels very immediate, like a snapshot of motion captured in a few fleeting strokes. Almost sculptural, though—like de Wit is teasing out the form from the paper. Curator: Yes, you can see it was quickly done, perhaps a preparatory study for a larger painting or sculpture, revealing De Wit's exploration of form. What strikes me is how the various figure studies and seemingly random ink tests on the same sheet illuminate 18th-century academic practices—how artists would explore and refine their techniques. Editor: It's like peeking behind the curtain, isn’t it? Look at the varying pressures of the pen strokes—thin hatching to build up shadow versus these bold outlines. The figure itself feels so… worked. All the labor visible. It definitely gives us a feel for how much effort goes into these neoclassical heroic figures. Curator: And that classicism wasn't ideologically neutral, of course. Consider how such representations helped to perpetuate specific ideas about beauty, power, and the role of the human body in society. Artists like de Wit were complicit in reinforcing certain social structures. Editor: Right, the artistic tradition is never outside of it. Even something as seemingly simple as the artist testing the flow of their pen contributes to a system of art making. I am struck how a single sheet shows us the raw work, the skill that sometimes gets overlooked when viewing grand finished canvases. Curator: Exactly, it reveals so much. This sheet isn't just a drawing; it’s a historical document that opens a window onto the art world of its time. Editor: Precisely! A small drawing, with big insights, into the whole social economy of artmaking.