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Ecorché: The Backs of Two Seated Figures

Not on view
An essential component of artistic training and one Delacroix’s teacher Guérin particularly encouraged, the écorché—or flayed anatomical drawing—familiarized students with the underlying structures of the body. Artists examined and made drawings based on illustrated treatises on anatomy, sculptural models, and actual cadavers, all in the pursuit of accurately representing the human form. The uncanny animation of the two figures in this example emphasizes the relationship between movement and musculature.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ecorché: The Backs of Two Seated Figures
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Medium: Red and black fabricated chalk
  • Dimensions: sheet: 11 5/8 x 18 7/16 in. (29.6 x 46.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2024
  • Object Number: 2024.591.54
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Studies of Horses, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite and traces of brown ink on laid paper
Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head, Eugène Delacroix French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper (mounted on heavy wove paper)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
La Pietà, Eugène Delacroix French, Etching on chine collé; second state of two
La Pietà
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Studies of a Goat, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite on wove paper
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863

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