Study for The Golden Age 1862

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres created this study for The Golden Age in pencil, as part of the artistic and intellectual movements of the 19th century. Ingres lived through a period of massive social and political change that included the French Revolution and the rise of industrialization. The idealized and nude figures might seem like a universal representation of beauty but they are rooted in very particular European standards. The drawing presents a vision of harmony and simplicity that is absent from the quickly changing industrial world. The male and female figures are in traditional gender roles. Ingres clearly values the established order. It is impossible to separate this drawing from the social and political context in which it was created, its longing for a "Golden Age." The image is imbued with a personal yearning for an idealized past, but its beauty can be found in this dream of a world free from conflict and change.