Feuille d’étude 

Narcisse-Virgilio Diaz made this study sheet without a date using graphite and sanguine. The head and hands depicted here offer us insight into the artistic training of 19th century France. During this time, the French academy was extremely powerful in dictating artistic standards. Artists like Diaz would need to master the ability to accurately depict the human form in order to gain entry to official Salons and win commissions. This mode of training was extremely hierarchical; students worked their way up from copying engravings, to drawing from plaster casts of antique sculptures, to eventually painting live models. The disembodied fragments of the body seen here reveal the amount of intensive study required of aspiring artists. To better understand Diaz's role within the French art world, we can consult Salon catalogues, biographies, and newspaper reviews. Only through these resources can we understand the social conditions that made his art possible.