Currently not on view
Socrates and Alcibiades
Etienne-Barthélemy Garnier, French, 1759–1849
formerly attributed to Pierre Narcisse Guérin, French, 1774 - 1833
formerly attributed to Pierre Narcisse Guérin, French, 1774 - 1833
x1978-6
Academically trained artists such as Garnier epitomized the neoclassical taste predominant in European art and design between 1750 and 1830. Informed by an astute knowledge of classical literature and modern archeological discoveries, neoclassical artists sought to imagine the antique world with an erudition that flattered both artist and viewer. The subject of Socrates leading his pupil Alcibiades away from temptation is not specifically found in classical literature but seems to be an eighteenth-century innovation that allowed for a sexually charged meditation on beauty and carnal indulgence. In the Salon of 1793, Garnier exhibited an oil of this subject that he had painted while at the French Academy in Rome; this highly finished drawing was most likely made in preparation for an engraving after that painting.
Information
Title
Socrates and Alcibiades
Medium
Pen and black ink with grey and brown wash, heightened with white, squared in black chalk
Dimensions
30.5 x 44.7 cm (12 x 17 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of Mrs. Rensselaer W. Lee, Mrs. David H McAlpin, and Mrs. Hibben Ziesing
Object Number
x1978-6
Culture
Type
Materials
Techniques
formerly attributed to Pierre Narcisse Guérin, French, 1774 - 1833
- Peter S Rahowsky, French nineteenth century drawings, pastels, watercolors, (New York: Sheperd Gallery, 1977)., no. 47 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1978," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 38, no. 1 (1979): p. 14-38., p. 28
- Barbara T. Ross, "Notes on selected French old master drawings from the permanent collection," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 42, no. 1 (1983): p. 4-42., p. 5 (illus.)
- Richard J. Campbell and Victor Carlson, Visions of antiquity: neoclassical figure drawings, (Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis, MN; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1993)., p. 41, 42; fig. 19
- Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Margaret Morgan Grasselli, Jean-François Méjanès, William W. Robinson and Pierre Rosenberg, Mastery & elegance: two centuries of French drawings from the collection of Jeffrey E. Horvitz, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 1998)., p. 324, fig. 1
