Profile of a Man 1876 - 1892

Alphonse Legros made this red chalk drawing, "Profile of a Man," at an unknown date. Legros was French, but he spent much of his career teaching at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. There, he emphasized the importance of drawing from life and studying the Old Masters. This drawing reflects that academic focus. The tight focus on the head and the careful attention to anatomical detail are hallmarks of academic art training. But it may also reflect social concerns. In nineteenth-century Europe, the rise of scientific naturalism led artists to make careful studies of human types. Legros would have been aware of the debates over physiognomy and phrenology, pseudo-sciences that claimed to link physical features to moral character and intellectual ability. Understanding how Legros engaged with these debates requires careful historical research into his social milieu, his reading habits, and the institutional settings in which he worked.