Standing Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, Paris

Standing Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, Paris

Victor-François-Eloi Biennourry

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The flowing drapery worn by the model enhances the sense of movement in his pose as he twists his torso and leans weight on his back leg with spear in hand. Biennourry possibly used the grid to reposition his model and produce studies of the same scale (see 2009.521.2) as he worked to determine the final costume and posture for this Roman soldier who features in the artist's mural decorations in the Church of Saint-Séverin.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Standing Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, ParisStanding Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, ParisStanding Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, ParisStanding Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, ParisStanding Soldier: Study for the Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul in the Church of Saint-Séverin, Paris

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.