Study after the Vatican Statue of Antinous as Osiris 1735 - 1745

Editor: This drawing, made between 1735 and 1745, is a study of the Vatican statue of Antinous as Osiris. It’s a charcoal drawing. I’m really struck by its…completeness, I guess? How even though it's a study, it feels like its own finished work. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, first off, that "completeness" you sensed – that’s the beautiful byproduct of rigorous artistic training back then. The anonymous artist was likely practicing the academic method. Can you see how he captured the sculpture’s inherent grace and solemnity? It's interesting, don’t you think, to consider a Roman sculpture of a Greek man, reinterpreted through the lens of Egyptian religious iconography, and then again by an 18th-century hand. Editor: So, it's like a work that is about an existing piece? Does this change the art making aspect in anyway? I mean what makes an art study a work of art? Curator: Yes and yes. This is an echo, right? An artistic study is akin to a musician practicing scales - purely technical on one hand, and the act of learning on another. What makes it a piece of *art* is the spirit of inquiry the artist infuses within those lines. And, honestly, a good helping of skillful observation. Don’t you feel that he is asking "Who *was* Antinous?" Editor: Absolutely! And, to be honest, it never occurred to me how many layers went into its making - the Greek, the Roman, the Egyptian influences. Now, that's something. Curator: Exactly! These layers of historical reference invite us to unpack the various levels of understanding, doesn't it? Editor: Totally does. Thanks, I see so much more in it now. Curator: Me too, every time!