Seasonal Attempt

This engraving by Prud'hon was to illustrate the narrative poem Phrosine et Mélidore, by Gentil-Bernard, later adapted into an opera. Without going into the rest of it, this scene is where the lovers are united after she nearly drowned at sea trying to swim to his rendezvous beacon. Yada yada.

Looks a lot like a vampire, no? Yes? My lowbrow attempt at another seasonal graphic. And oh, my adoration of Prud'hon's talent.

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon — Phrosine et Mélidore

Leonardo Would Be Envious

The figure studies of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon are amazingly controlled and precise and yet, to my aesthetic, don't seem fussy. Prud'hon's studies are as rich as other's full-blown paintings. Leonardo himself would be envious.

Below, in detail, you can see the model's hair in lovely disarray, each stroke of chalk on the body lovingly and authoritatively placed, each eyelash delicately delineated.

Master Allegorical Artist

And this is NOT a Ziegfeld girl, though I thought it was when I first saw this print when I was 18—something about the hairband and face. It is from a hundred years before Ziegfeld, an academic study by the French master allegorical artist, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon—another favorite of mine.

Two anonymous artists sitting next to Prud'hon, during the same session, also drew the model, giving us further appreciation of Prud'hon's abilities: