Splendid Male Nude Drawn in sanguine. School of the XIX Century.

Great original sanguine drawing that depicts a male nude seen from the back and slightly foreshortened. The drawing is sketched on white paper and dates from the 19th century. It's framed and is surprisingly beautiful and elegant. The brick red of the sanguine let the artist create a series of wonderful tonal gradations that become volumes, shapes and movements in a superb and precise way. Sanguine is a drawing technique based on the use of a reddish material (an iron oxide variety) that can be found powdered, in bars or in plates. Its name comes from red color of the product that reminds us of blood. Sanguine bars are used similarly to charcoal bars and they let the artists create elegant and subtle drawings just like the one we can see in these photographs. This technique started being used in the 14th century to perform preparatory sketches for mural frescoes and was used later by important art schools such as the Renaissance, the neoclassic, the romantic and the impressionist artists. The techniques versatile feature is well shown in this drawing, where the artists has used a sanguine bar to drawn the bodys shape, the shadows and the muscles relied. The drawing itself is wonderful and depicts a balanced and harmonious figure. The mans muscles are clearly depicted and create a feeling of reality difficult to beat. The strokes are free and sure and the shadows are precisely located: the realism is such that it gives the impression that the man is going to move in any moment. Measurements: Drawing: Width: 10.6 in/27 cm. Height: 16.1 in/41 cm. Frame: Width: 18.5 in/47 cm. Height: 24.4 in/62 cm.