Study for "The Death of Major Peirson": Two Dead Figures

A chalk study on pale blue-grey paper shows two figures sprawled at the lower right, one partly draped in cloth with arms flung out. Faint handwritten notes and ruled measuring lines fill the upper half of the sheet, suggesting working preparation for a larger composition.

Look closer: Faint handwritten notes and measuring lines across the upper half of the sheet.

Artist

John Singleton Copley

Date

1782–83

Medium

Black chalk and white-chalk heightening on light blue laid paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3811 × 2170 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Louisa Eldridge McBurney Gift, 1960