Study for "The Death of the Earl of Chatham"

A study in white chalk heightening over black chalk on blue-green paper. A standing man in a long, draped cloak fills the center, one arm extended, while loose sketched lines suggest other figures and furniture around him. The lines are light and searching, and the figure's pose is still being worked out.

Look closer: Faint sketched outlines of a seated or reclining figure and a chair appear at the right edge.

Artist

John Singleton Copley

Date

1779

Medium

Black chalk and white-chalk heightening on blue laid paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2249 × 1807 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1960