A son of Niobe. Italian Academic drawing. XIX century.

A son of Niobe. 
Italian Academic drawing. 
XIX century. 

Charcoal drawing on paper.
Dimensions: cm 58 x cm 43.

Good conservation conditions with small defects on margins.
This drawing represents one of the many examples of academic exercises based on the most important plaster copies of Ancient Rome statues.

Students focused on the chiaroscuro effect and detailed representation of the face.
 
In the academic depiction of a classical Roman statue representing one of Niobe's children, nude and athletic, the art emphasizes the youth's beauty and physical strength despite his tragic fate. This contrast highlights the tragedy of the story and the cruelty of the divine punishment.

The massacre of Niobe's children is an episode from Greek mythology recounted in Ovid's "Metamorphoses." Niobe, queen of Thebes and mother of many children, boasted about her offspring and scorned Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, who had only two children. To punish her arrogance, Apollo and Artemis killed all of Niobe's children. This tragedy symbolizes hubris (excessive pride) and the subsequent divine punishment.

This drawing is a part of collection of 19th century charcoal drawings from the Accademia Albertina of Turin.