Reclining River God

A male nude reclines diagonally across the sheet, seen from behind, one arm raised above his head and the other reaching back. He rests against an overturned urn from which water pours, a classical river-god pose. Red chalk builds the musculature with soft hatching and smudged tone.

Look closer: A faint figure or arm is sketched in the upper edge, partly lost in the dark tone behind the reclining man.

Artist

Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Date

n.d.

Medium

Red chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3911 × 2894 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1960