Youth with a Bow
ArtistAfter
Jacques-Louis David
(French, 1748-1825)
CultureFrench
Dateca. 1815
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 32 1/2 x 25 3/4 in. (82.6 x 65.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 44 1/2 x 37 3/4 in. (113 x 95.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 44 1/2 x 37 3/4 in. (113 x 95.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.3100
Not on view
DescriptionOil on canvas painting.Label TextUnknown French 19th century Youth with a Bow, ca. 1815 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.3100 The young huntsman here has been variously identified as the ancient Greek warrior Achilles, the Greek hunter Meleager who killed the Caledonian Boar, and even the Old Testament hero David. But none of these identifications has proven conclusive. In fact, the painting seems less a depiction of a specific "historical" figure than a more general essay on the essence of idealized male beauty in the then fashionable neoclassical style. With his smoothly polished flesh, straight "Greek" nose and curly, wind-blown locks set against a stormy sky, the elegant bowman seems the embodiment of masculine perfection. It could have been created as such by any one of several of the Parisian students of Jacques-Louis David or Antoine-Jean Gros. Exhibition History"Venus and Adonis: Aspects of the Figurative Ideal in 19th- and 20th-Century Art," The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., July 13 - November 3, 1996. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. "Classical Traditions at the Moses Myers House," Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA, April 17 - December 1, 2013. "Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell and the Narrative Tradition," Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA, June 9 - October 28, 2018.
