Who painted The Giants?

The Giants was painted by John Flaxman in 1793.

Where can I see The Giants?

The Giants is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is The Giants?

The Giants is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

The Giants

John Flaxman , 1793

The Giants is a graphite drawing by the Romanticist artist John Flaxman. It dates from 1793 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

*The Giants* is a drawing executed in graphite on brown tracing paper, dated to around 1793. The work exemplifies John Flaxman’s mature phase, when his reputation as a leading neoclassical artist was firmly established across Britain and the continent.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents monumental figures that evoke the mythic or funerary giants of antiquity, reflecting Flaxman’s sustained interest in classical narratives and the symbolic weight they carried in late‑18th‑century art.

Technique & Style

Rendered in a restrained graphite palette, the drawing showcases Flaxman’s characteristic linear precision. The use of brown tracing paper provides a muted ground that accentuates the crisp, controlled contours typical of his draughtsmanship.

History & Provenance

Flaxman began his artistic career modelling for Josiah Wedgwood’s pottery, later relocating to Rome where he refined his style. *The Giants* emerges from the period following his Roman sojourn, when he was producing works that integrated classical motifs with his sculptural sensibility.

Context

Created during a phase when neoclassicism dominated British and European art, the drawing aligns with Flaxman’s broader output of illustrations for classical literature and designs for funerary monuments, underscoring the era’s fascination with antiquity.