Studies for 'Captive Andromache' and 'The Marquand Ceiling': Terpsichore, Male Figures

Drawing details

Title: Studies for 'Captive Andromache' and 'The Marquand Ceiling': Terpsichore, Male Figures
Date: c.1886-88
Media: Black and white chalk on brown paper
Dimensions: 21.9 x 29.7 cm
Location: Manchester Art Gallery
Picture credit: Manchester City Art Galleries
Reference number: 1982.137

Interpretation

In this study for Terpsichore, the muse of dancing, it's not clear whether the model was a man or a woman. The muscular arms suggest it may have been a man, despite Terpsichore being represented as a woman in the final work.

Description

Upper left of sheet: half-length study for the figure of Terpsichore holding up a tambourine and dancing in the side panel of 'The Marquand Ceiling' (c.1886, probably private collections). Here the figure is shown with her back to the viewer and head in profile facing to the right, whereas in the finished work she stands in in profile facing to the right with her face turned to the viewer. The hands are raised above the head and the forearms held at right angles to the upper arms. The head is inclined towards the viewer and he looks over the right shoulder. Lower left of sheet: half-length study for the second male figure from the left in the foreground of the painting 'Captive Andromache' (c.1888, Manchester Art Gallery). Right of sheet: three-quarter length study for the first male figure from the left of the painting 'Captive Andromache'. This figure differs from that in the painting as his right wrist rests on the handle of a stick and the left hand rests on his left hip. 

Provenance

Purchased from Christopher Wood (dealer and art historian) by Manchester City Art Gallery (now Manchester Art Gallery) in 1982.