Hand Pointing and Forearm n.d.

Antoine Coypel drew "Hand Pointing and Forearm" using black and red chalk on paper. We see the hand and lower portion of the arm as if in mid-gesture. Coypel was a leading artist of France during the reign of Louis XIV. He came from a family of painters that had close ties to the French court. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1681, rising to become its director later in his career. This drawing gives us an insight into the academic methods that shaped French art at that time. The Royal Academy played a crucial role in defining artistic standards, and drawings such as this one were likely used for teaching purposes to instruct students in anatomy and figure drawing. The pointing gesture may allude to the importance of rhetoric and communication in academic discourse. To fully understand this drawing, one can explore the archives of the Royal Academy and study the theoretical writings that defined its artistic principles. By examining the institutional context of its creation, we can appreciate the social forces that shaped artistic production in France at the turn of the 18th century.