Copies after Illustrations of Statues and Paintings (recto); Measurements for a Man's Skeleton (verso) n.d.

This drawing, made by Gerard de Lairesse, presents a flurry of figures sketched in pen and brown ink, their forms floating across the page, seemingly unbound by gravity or conventional perspective. The monochromatic palette emphasizes the linear quality of the work, with each stroke defining contours and volumes. Lairesse, influenced by classical ideals and his formal training, engages here with the semiotics of artistic anatomy and representation. The repetitive rendering of human forms, presented from various angles, explores the objective analysis of the human figure. The upturned orientations challenge our habitual modes of perception, destabilizing fixed viewpoints. Ultimately, the drawing functions as a meditation on the nature of copying and the transmission of knowledge. Its structural arrangement invites us to contemplate how artists learn from and build upon the works of their predecessors, perpetually reinterpreting the canon.