Liggende mansfiguur 1715 - 1798

Dionys van Nijmegen created this pen and ink drawing of a reclining male figure sometime in the 18th century. Its loose, unfinished quality indicates that it was made as a preliminary sketch. During the 1700s, the academies of art across Europe solidified their control, prescribing ideal forms and subjects to students. Classical and religious scenes, like those reproduced in history paintings, were at the top of the hierarchy. Van Nijmegen's figure references classical sculpture with its idealized musculature and carefully studied pose, but he has chosen a contemporary, informal subject. What are we to make of this tension between the old and the new? The figure in the drawing could represent a subject from contemporary genre painting inserted into the idealized form of the classical tradition. Art historians consult the artist’s other work, period documents and the records of institutions to discover more about the social and institutional context of art. We can begin to see that its meaning is contingent on the culture of its time.