Skitse af en fod set fra neden. Hælen t.v. 1743 - 1809

Nicolai Abildgaard made this foot study in pencil on paper in Denmark sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. As a study, it gives us some insight into the institutional history of art training at the time. In the 1770s, Abildgaard was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, and later served as director. There, he would have stressed the importance of learning to draw the human body from multiple angles, grounding his students in classical forms and preparing them to create history paintings. While the image may seem unassuming, it reflects the dominant style of the period and the artist's academic training. By studying Abildgaard's drawings and teaching, and comparing them with the work of his contemporaries, we can better understand artistic production at the time. Ultimately, art always reflects the social and institutional contexts in which it is made.