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Male Academy with Wings
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Academically trained artists often practiced drawing live models. Called academies, these figure studies occasionally served as preparatory drawings for paintings. Some artists crafted their academies to appeal to collectors interested in contemplating technical skill and inventiveness. Boucher may have imaginatively given wings to this male nude, who does not appear in any known painting, to demonstrate his ingenuity by transforming the model into a mythological figure.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMale Academy with Wings, 1745–50. François Boucher (French, 1703–1770). Red chalk on cream laid paper; overall: 30.1 x 37.1 cm (11 7/8 x 14 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin, 2008.350
