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Life Study: Deacon Carrying a Book

Jean Honoré Fragonard French

ca. 1758-59

Not on view

The study of figures in liturgical vestments was regular part of the curriculum for students at the Académie de France in Rome. Here, a model poses as a deacon carrying the scriptures during a religious ceremony. Fragonard glosses over the specific details of ornamentation and needlework, focusing instead on the fall of light on the heavy folds of fabric.

Life Study: Deacon Carrying a Book, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Red chalk — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Life Study: Deacon Carrying a Book

Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)

Date: ca. 1758-59

Medium: Red chalk

Dimensions: 21 1/2 × 14 11/16 in. (54.6 × 37.3 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: Private collection

Accession Number: SL.5.2016.13.1

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How Chalk Drawings are Made

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The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.