drawing, pencil
portrait
drawing
pencil drawing
pencil
portrait drawing
history-painting
academic-art
Dimensions: 17 5/16 x 11 7/16 in. (43.97 x 29.05 cm) (sheet)
Copyright: Public Domain
Jules Louis Machard captured this study of an apostle for “Notre Dame de la Croix” in sanguine. Observe the apostle’s hooded figure; a motif deeply rooted in religious art, signifying piety and introspection. The cowl, a symbol of monastic life and spiritual withdrawal, has its origins in early Christian hermits seeking refuge from worldly chaos. Consider how this same gesture—the veiled head—reappears in Ghiberti's depictions of prophets on the Baptistery doors in Florence. Note how the classical drapery in Ghiberti gives way to the rough cloth of the apostle. The gesture has been passed down through history, its meaning shifting from classical nobility to Christian humility. This contrast is psychologically potent, touching our collective memory of spiritual seeking and sacrifice. The persistence of these motifs reveals a subconscious yearning for order and meaning, continually resurfacing across cultures and epochs.
Comments
In 1865 the painter Jules Louis Machard, then age 26, won a prestigious prize, which funded an extended stay in Rome. There he soaked up the styles and techniques of great artists from the past. In this moving drawing of a man peering from behind a wall, Machard seems to borrow from Raphael (1483–1520), who often partially obscured figures for dramatic effect. An inscription tells us that Machard drew this for an important commission that he won in Paris to paint scenes of the lives of Mary and her son, Jesus, for the church Notre Dame de la Croix (Our Lady of the Cross). The man, an apostle, seems amazed. Machard probably intended to use him as an onlooker in The Assumption, in which angels carry the Virgin Mary into heaven.
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