Weiblicher Akt, eine über einer Erhebung niedergesunkene Gestalt an die Schulter fassend 

Victor Müller made this sketch of nude figures with graphite on paper at an unknown date. Müller was working in Germany at a time of increasing political unification. The simultaneous project of cultural unification meant that artists were expected to learn the lessons of the past. One method of doing so was drawing the human figure. This could be seen as both a scientific and an aesthetic exercise. For academies of art the human body was understood as a physical form that could be measured and studied. It was also the basis for ideal beauty. Here, Müller experiments with the nude form. He sketches several figures, including one that may be veiled. Art historians might research how Müller's drawings relate to his larger paintings, as well as how the artist may have studied the work of other artists for his own project of cultural unification.