Two Nude Male Figures Struggling Together 1709 - 1710

Nicolas de Largillière made this drawing of two nude male figures struggling together with pen and brown ink, and heightened with white chalk, on brown paper. This study of male nudes locks us into the complex and often contradictory world of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Here, Largillière presents the male body as an object of study, idealizing the physique and emphasizing the drama of their entwined forms. The Academy, of which Largillière was a member, played a key role in defining artistic standards, dictating subject matter and style, and using classical antiquity as an artistic guide. But although the drawing appears to uphold academic tradition, the subject matter is somewhat ambiguous. Is this a study of models in dynamic poses? Or a sketch for a more complex composition? Uncertainties like these highlight the art historian's role. By researching the social and institutional context, and using archival resources such as the Academy's records, one can better understand the various meanings that this drawing might have held for Largillière and his contemporaries.