Engraving Young man sitting by the sea - Hippolyte Flandrin

The painter Hippolyte Flandrin was a nineteenth-century artist who specialised in religious painting. After arriving in the capital, he joined Ingres' studio and followed a classical academic path. He was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1832, enabling him to go to the French Academy in Rome. Artistic education required artists on their way to Rome to send several standard pieces as a token of their skills and progress. Among these, the men's academies were essential to training as an artist. Mastering the nude enabled artists to paint historical, religious and even mythological subjects. Young Man Seated by the Sea redefined the genre of the male academy. Contrary to convention, the background is a Mediterranean landscape, with an ephebe curled up next to the sea and his face buried between his legs. The blurred nature of this study of a man allows the artist to subtly work in parallel an allegory of Melancholy, or a different ancient mythical hero such as Theseus. This consignment from Rome continues to follow the classic pattern of artistic apprenticeship. It was exhibited at the Universal Exhibition of 1855, then moved to the Musée des Artistes Vivants, formerly the Musée du Luxembourg.