Roman Album No. 4: Italian Landscapes and Antiquities

1775/80

Jacques-Louis David

Associated Names
Jacques-Louis David

Artist, French, 1748 - 1825

This is a photograph of a textured brown cover with an intricate pattern. The cover has a rich, earthy tone with a subtle and complex swirling pattern across the surface. It appears to be an old book or journal cover, with a darker brown border outlining it. There is a handwritten red and black text near the top. The overall appearance suggests a vintage or antique quality, with signs of wear along the edges.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    album of 61 drawings and 21 tracings in an album consisting of 22 pages in all, with 21 rectos and 2 versos bearing drawings

  • Credit Line

    Patrons' Permanent Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall (size of closed album): 52.2 x 35.5 cm (20 9/16 x 14 in.)
    page size (greenish pages): 48.6 x 33 cm (19 1/8 x 13 in.)
    page size (white pages): 50.5 x 33.4 cm (19 7/8 x 13 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1998.105.1

Associated Artworks

See all 86 artworks
The image shows a person walking to the right, holding an object in their right hand. They are wearing an ancient Roman or Greek-style draped garment with a head covering. The person's face is in profile, looking slightly upward. Garlands with objects like a basket and cloth hang in the air around them. The background is plain, emphasizing the person and the hanging objects.

Ornament with a Bearded Man in Ancient Dress

Jacques-Louis David

1775

This image shows an illustration of a woman standing upright. She is wearing flowing garments that suggest movement, with one knee bent as if in motion. Her hair is styled in tight curls and appears to be pulled back. The woman's facial expression is focused as she gazes upward or forward. She seems to be holding something in her right hand, while her left arm is hidden. The background is plain.

Niobe and Her Daughter

Jacques-Louis David

1775

The image shows a round, ornately carved pedestal with three intricately designed legs adorned with decorative elements like lion heads. The color palette is monochromatic with different shades of grey on off-white paper. The object is centrally positioned in the sketch, casting a shadow to the right, suggesting light from the left. Small details like shading and texture work are present to suggest depth and dimension.

Decorative Brazier

Jacques-Louis David

1775

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Estate of the artist (sale, Paris, 17 April 1826, under no. 66; withdrawn); Mme. David (sale, Paris, 11 March 1835, under no. 16); purchased by one of David's pupils, Mlle. X (name obliterated);[1] by descent in her family; (Bruno de Bayser, Paris); purchased 1998 by NGA.
[1] According to inscription on flyleaf.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2009

  • Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2009, no.

2022

  • Jacques-Louis David: Radical Draftsman, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, February 17-May 15, 2022: cat. 6, repro.

Bibliography

1826

  • "Inventaire après le décès de Mme. David." June 27, 1826. Manuscript inventory in Archives Nationales, Paris, Minutier central, fonds CVIII.

1989

  • Sérullaz, Arlette. "Les Dessins du premier séjour romain." In Jacques-Louis David, 1748 - 1825. Paris, 1989: 65.

1991

  • Sérullaz, Arlette. Dessins de Jacques-Louis David. Paris, 1991: 11.

1993

  • Campbell, Richard, et al. Visions of Antiquity: Neoclassical Figure Drawings. Los Angeles, 1993: 192.

2000

  • Rosenberg, Pierre. From Drawing to Painting: Poussin, Watteau, Fraongard, David & Ingres. Princeton, 2000: 40, fig. 42 (reproducing the fourth folio of album 4 with five drawings, inv. nos. 1998.105.1.j, .k, .l, .m, .n).

2002

  • Rosenberg, Pierre, and Louis-Antoine Prat. Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825: Catalogue raisonné des dessins. 2 vols. Milan, 2002, 1: nos. 589-670, 477-507.

2010

  • Stein, Perrin. "French Drawings, Washington," The Burlington Magazine 102 (January 2010): 67.

2022

  • Stein, Perrin, editor. Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, 2022: 82, cat. 6.

Inscriptions

in later hand, upper center of cover in brown ink: No. 4; in later hand, upper center of cover in red ink: DAVID; in later hands, across top of first page in brown ink: No. 4 / Contenant 23 feuillets sur les quelles tout collés ou dessinés / soixante douze dessins et vingt calques / Verifié et reconnu exact / Ces dessins proviennant de la succession de Mlle. [name scraped away] / qui etudia dans l'atelier David à Roma.. In another hand: La premiere page manque / Il y a en tout cinquante huit dessins et vingt calques.. / Verifié ce premier novembre 1888; in later hand, under "cinquante huit" in graphite: 59

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