Study for The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons

A loose sketch of a columned classical interior. A seated, bowed figure in the foreground is lit by pale tone, while standing and gesturing figures crowd the center and right, one holding a child-sized form. Quick chalk strokes and brown ink lines show the composition being worked out.

Look closer: A small monogram or initials sit in the lower right corner, near the bottom margin.

Artist

Jacques Louis David

Date

ca. 1788

Medium

Black chalk and brown ink on paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3909 × 3116 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975