Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010974The Prisoner
About the Artwork
This drawing belongs to a series of enigmatic sheets that the French artist Jacques-Louis David created while living as an exile in Brussels from 1816 until his death in 1825. Many of these untitled works present close-up views of expressive heads and were given by the artist to his friends. This image of a turbaned man next to a hanging chain and oil lamp loosely references David's painting The Intercession of Saint Roch (1780) from much earlier in his career.
Inscriptions
inscribed, at upper left, in black chalk: L. David, Brux.; inscribed, on an old support, now removed: 1 des. de L. David.
Provenance
1972: (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 9, 1972, no. 13 bis, sold to Adolphe Stein, Paris and London) 1972: (Adolphe Stein, Paris and London, sold to Eugene V. Thaw, New York) 1972 - 1973: (Eugene V. Thaw, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1973-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974). The Lessons of the Academy. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 8-May 29, 1983). Treasures on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-July 24, 1988). Jacques-Louis David. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France (October 26, 1988-February 12, 1989); Musée National de Château de Versailles, 78 008 Versailles cedex, France (October 26, 1988-February 12, 1989). Directions in Drawing II: The Human Figure. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1991-January 12, 1992). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (February 1-April 24, 2005); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA (organizer) (June 5-September 5, 2005). Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 14-May 15, 2022) https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2022/jacques-louis-david-radical-draftsman. Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-June 11, 2023).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
- Date
- c. 1816–22
- Medium
- black chalk on cream laid paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 13.1 x 19.6 cm (5 3/16 x 7 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 1973.36
More by Jacques-Louis David in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00010974
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