Studies of Men in Togas [recto] 

Otto Greiner made this pencil drawing, Studies of Men in Togas, around the turn of the century in Germany. We see several figures draped in togas in the classical style of ancient Greece and Rome. This drawing would have been made in art school, perhaps as part of Greiner’s training in Dresden's Academy of Fine Arts. These state-funded academies were often oriented to the past, teaching students to reproduce classical forms in painting and sculpture. We see a revival of these forms in much academic art of the 19th century. The artist’s painstaking study and imitation was valued above originality. However, as we can see in Greiner’s other work, it could also be a jumping off point toward new styles and ideas. By returning to the art of the past and understanding its underlying principles, one could learn to move in new directions. The historian can bring all kinds of resources to bear in understanding this work: institutional records of the art academies, studies of classical revivalism, and biographical information about the artist.