Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.
Drawing of a nude male figure, identified as a study of the Hellenistic sculpture known as the 'Borghese Gladiator', which is at the Louvre in Paris (formerly at the Villa Borghese, Rome). The figure lunges forwards dramatically (towards the left of the sheet), his left arm raised and obscuring his face; his right arm behind clutching a sword hilt. Numerous tears and creases throughout; a piece of the sheet has been torn away from the left and lower right sides. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1764-1765. Pen and ink and grey ink wash over pencil on brown paper.

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Paintings by Joseph Wright, A.R.A., commonly called "Wright of Derby", together with some Original Drawings, and a Complete Collection of Prints after his Works
    Venue: Derby Corporation Art Gallery
    Dates: from 16/04/1883 to 16/04/1883
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: An Exhibition to Commemorate the Centenary of Derby Museums and Art Gallery
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/04/1979 to 21/07/1979
  • Title: Drawings by Joseph Wright of Derby
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 31/03/1990 to 22/04/1990
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734-1797: Bicentenary Exhibition
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997
  • Title: D'après l'Antique
    Venue: Musée du Louvre
    Dates: from 16/10/2000 to 15/01/2001
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool
    Venue: Walker Art Gallery
    Dates: from 17/11/2007 to 24/02/2008
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 23/05/2025 to 07/09/2025

Publications

  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797
    Sub-Title: An introduction to the work of Joseph Wright of Derby with a catalogue of drawings held by Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Published on the occasion of an exhibition commemorating the Bicentenary of the artist's death.
    Published Place: Derby
    Published Year: 1997
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 1
    Volume: 1
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: Benedict Nicolson, 1968
    Published Year: 1968

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Study of the 'Borghese Gladiator', after the Antique

Date: c. 1764-1765

Medium: Pen and ink and grey wash over pencil on brown paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 511 × 419 mm (20 1/8 × 16 1/2 in.)
Description:Elizabeth Barker notes that this study was once in the collection of the Liverpool collector (and patron of Wright), Daniel Daulby (according to a manuscript inventory of 1793, no.210, p.66). Barker also notes that if not made after a cast of the Borghese Gladiator, it may be a study after an engraving of the sculpture. [see Barker, E. 'Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool' (Yale University Press, 2007), p.163.] 'Numerous casts and copies of this celebrated statue, formerly in the Villa Borghese and now in the Louvre, are known to have existed in England before Wright left for Italy. Indeed, two copies of varying size appear in Wright's early genre paintings 'Three Persons viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight', 1764-5 and 'An Academy by Lamplight', 1769. Although the drawing is not dated it is likely that this study was made in connection with the paintings, the meticulous handling of the wash being uncharacteristic of the later studies Wright made in Rome. That the angle of the drawing appears in reverse to the paintings suggests it was one of a series of such studies, now lost.' [Baker, G. in Wallis, J. 'Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797: An introduction to the work of Joseph Wright of Derby with a catalogue of drawings held by Derby Museum and Art Gallery' (Derby Museum and Art Gallery, 1997), p.88.] Judy Egerton felt that the drawing was similar in style and size to the studies after the Antique that Wright made in Italy, and suggests that it may have been made at the Villa Borghese in Rome, and not in England as Nicolson had earlier stated. [Egerton, J. 'Wright of Derby' (Tate Gallery, 1990), p.63.]. The use of pen and ink wash is very careful; tentative almost, in comparison with Wright's Italian drawings, but it is difficult to say for certain when it was made. [LB and ME: 2024] Benedict Nicolson felt that the drawing was made in England, before Wright's trip to Italy. He notes that the popularity of the sculpture in England in the 1760s meant that there were plenty of casts or copies Wright might have seen and studied. Nicolson suspected that the drawing was made in connection with the painting 'Three Persons Viewing a Gladiator by Candlight' (1765), but notes that the drawing that is held up for inspection in this painting shows the sculpture from a different viewpoint to that of the present study. He suggests that there were other studies of the sculpture from different angles, possibly now lost. [see Nicolson, B. 'Wright of Derby: Painter of Light' (Paul Mellon Foundation, 1968), p.57.
Provenance:...; with Daniel Daulby of Liverpool by 1793; ...; with William Bemrose of Derby in 1883; by descent to his son, Charles Lloyd Bemrose, by whom donated to Derby Museums in 1914.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1914-517/1
Browse Collection
Browse Collection