Kniender männlicher Akt, die Rechte aufgestützt, empor blickend 

Victor Müller made this sketch of a kneeling nude male, propping himself up with his right arm, at some unknown date. It's hard to look at a drawing like this without considering academic institutions and their role in shaping the art world, particularly in 19th-century Germany. The male nude has long been a staple of art education. This sketch may well have been produced as part of Müller's training, or even for his own students if he was teaching. The somewhat idealized form, combined with the upward gaze, suggests a kind of classical aspiration, a striving for perfection that was very much in line with the values of the academy. To understand this work better, we might research the curriculum of art schools in Germany during Müller's time. By understanding the institutional context, we can better appreciate the social forces that shaped this image and its place in the broader art world.