Read the visual description
This is a drawing of a scene featuring a muscular, nude male figure struggling with a large, heavy rock. There is a lion's head on top of the rock and a serpent-like creature slithering nearby. The background shows hilly terrain. The detailed shading and line work create a sense of struggle and tension in the image.
National Gallery of Art · Drawing
A Man Trapped between a Lion and a Serpent
Richard Cosway
- Date
- 1790s
- Medium
- pen and brown ink with gray wash on laid paper, laid down on an old mount
- Dimensions
- sheet: 22.7 × 18.9 cm (8 15/16 × 7 7/16 in.) mount: 40.7 × 33.8 cm (16 × 13 5/16 in.)
- Classification
- Drawing
- Accession number
- 2018.60.1
- Credit line
- Joseph F. McCrindle Endowment Fund
- Time span
- 1776 to 1800
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- Lion
- Snake
- Rock
- Male nude
Provenance
The artist, until his death in 1821; Maria Cosway, Lodi, until her death in 1838; Collegio delle Grazie, Lodi, until 1896; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 1 June 1896, no. 159 ['Naked Man clinging to a rock, between a serpent and a lion--pen and ink, washed']; bought by Sabin. Sir Jacob Epstein [1880-1959], according to inscription on the mount. (sale, London, Christie's, 7 April 1998, no. 1); Bernadette and William M. B. Berger, Denver, CO; The Berger Collection Educational Trust; (sale, Sotheby's, New York, 25 January 2017, no. 91); (Trinity Fine Art, London); purchased 2018 by NGA.
Inscription
by later hand, lower right in graphite: Richard Cosway del. / Jacob. Epstein
NGA object ID 214056. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.