Description:

coloured chalks, stumping, and watercolour
241 x 171 mm

Provenance:

Private collection, UK

Note:

The unknown geographer, dressed in the fashionable top hat, cravat, and frock coat of the 1790s or early 1800s, is shown to be a man of style and adventure, with his intense gaze and an open map, pair of compasses and globe on the table before him. Whilst its roots are to be found in 17th century Dutch portraits of scholars in their studies, the drawing also reflects a more contemporary current for depictions of geographers and geography lessons, popularised at the turn of the century by an engraving showing Louis XVI giving a geography lesson to the Dauphin, and other such examples by Anne-Louis Girodet, Louis-Léopold Boilly.