School of Jacques-Louis DAVID
 

 
The model in the studio
 

 
Oil on canvas
 
81 x 59 cm without frame
 
96 x 73 with frame
 
Around 1820
 

 
This academic painting, representative of the neoclassical teaching of the late 18th century, illustrates the rigor and sobriety of drawing inherited from Jacques-Louis David. The painting depicts a seated female nude, seen in profile, in a classic study pose used for learning modeling and anatomy. The figure, bathed in a soft and even light, stands out against a neutral background where nothing distracts the viewer's gaze.
 

 
The artist emphasizes the purity of the forms, the anatomical accuracy, and the subtle play of shadows, testifying to the academic standards characteristic of David's studio. The body, treated with great expressive restraint, is above all an object of study: beauty resides here in the mastery of drawing, the moderation of tone, and the precision of the light.
 

 
This type of studio nude served as a model for David's students and for an entire generation of painters trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, already foreshadowing the transition towards an art more sensitive to realism and the truth of the human body.