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La Sagesse
About the Artwork
Fragonard’s grisaille drawing portrays a sculpted personification of Wisdom, identified by the inscription “Sagesse” along her forehead. She is seated on a stone throne, decorated with two other female personifications on either side. Characterized as a righteous woman, Wisdom lifts her right arm in an authoritative gesture while clutching her traditional attribute, a crown of stars, in her other hand.
Inscriptions
lower left corner, in graphite: Alex E. Fragonard, fils; lower center, in graphite: La Sagesse dessin de la Revolution; tertiary support: lower center, in brown ink: Alexandre Evariste FRAGONARD. / 1780.-1850.; verso of support: lower right corner, in graphite: R49588 / 791.30
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard (French, 1781–1850)
- Date
- late 18th- early 19th century
- Medium
- Graphite, pen and black ink, and gray and black washes
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 39.4 x 27.8 cm (15 1/2 x 10 15/16 in.); Secondary Support: 39.6 x 28 cm (15 9/16 x 11 in.); Tertiary Support: 49.2 x 36.3 cm (19 3/8 x 14 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Bequest of Muriel Butkin
- Accession no.
- 2018.47
More by Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard in museum collections
Don Juan and the Commander's Statue (Last Scene of Mozart's Don Giovanni)
Alexandre-Evariste Fragonardca. 1825–30 · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011697
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