Who painted Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures?

Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures was painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1778.

Where can I see Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures?

Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures?

Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures is associated with Neoclassicism.

Artwork

Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures

Jacques-Louis David , 1778

Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures is an oil drawing by the Neoclassicist artist Jacques-Louis David. It dates from 1778 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Jacques‑Louis David’s 1778 work titled *Woman with a Dish and Various Classical Figures* is a drawing executed as a transfer tracing on oiled laid paper. Though modest in size, the piece records a study of five mythological characters rendered in a linear, sketch‑like manner.

Subject & Meaning

The composition groups five figures drawn from antiquity. On the left a bearded man with goat‑like legs stands beside a woman in a long dress clutching a tablet. Central to the scene, a seated figure bearing a trident is accompanied by a woman in a flowing robe. To the right another bearded, goat‑legged figure faces a woman holding a fan, suggesting a narrative tableau of mythic encounters.

Technique & Style

David employed a transfer tracing method, copying the outlines of a classical source—likely a sculpture or earlier painting—onto oiled paper. The resulting lines are clean and economical, emphasizing contour over modeling, and reflecting the artist’s interest in the precise rendering of ancient forms.

History & Provenance

Created during David’s early career, the drawing illustrates his systematic study of classical art, a practice that informed his later historical paintings. The work remains a testament to his preparatory methods, though its later ownership history is not extensively documented.

Context

In the late 1770s, French artists increasingly turned to antiquity for inspiration, using drawings from classical statues to hone compositional and anatomical skills. David’s tracing aligns with this academic trend, serving both as a pedagogical exercise and a visual record of his engagement with mythological iconography.

Artist & collection

Artist

Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was born in Paris on 30 August 1748 into a bourgeois family; his father died in a duel when the boy was nine, and a maternal uncle guided his education.