The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Head of a Young Man

1715–1717

Antoine Coypel

(French, 1661–1722)
France, 18th century
red, black, and white chalk with stumping
Sheet: 25.1 x 18.9 cm (9 7/8 x 7 7/16 in.)
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.342
Location: Not on view

Description

The most important French painter of his generation, Antoine Coypel worked during the period of transition from the monarchy of Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715) through the Regency (1715-1723) and the ascendance of Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774). A beautiful colorist also steeped in the academic tradition of drawing, Coypel used red, black, and white chalk together on this sheet to achieve tonal range. The drawing is connected to Coypel's greatest achievement: the series of large painted decorations for the Gallery of Aeneas in the Palais Royal in Paris. This study of facial expression shows one of the mourners attending the funeral of Pallas, a scene from Virgil's (70-19 bc) Aeneid. Though this painting still exists in the collection of the Louvre Museum, it is in a ruined state. Most of the paintings for the Gallery of Aeneas did not survive at all, but there are numerous drawings for the project.
  • Pierre-Jean Mariette (Lugt 1852, lower left, in black ink); [probably lot 1215 in the Mariette sale, Paris, 15 November 1775-30 January 1776; see F. Basan, Catalogue Raisonné des différens objets de curiosités dans les Sciences et Arts qui composoient le Cabinet de feu Mr Mariette (Paris, 1775), 185, no. 1215: "Coypel (Antoine) / Six Sujets & Têtes diverses, dont Vénus & Enée, Tête au pastel, &c."] [lot 1215 sold to Baron de Lunas (annotated copy of catalogue, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques)]. Sir George Leon; The Lady Dunalley; [her sale, Christie's, London (8 December 1976), no. 107, repr.]; purchased in 1976.
  • Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Referenced: cat. no. 5, p. 20-21, Reproduced: p. 21
    Coypel, Antoine, Hélène Jagot, Jessica Degain, and Guillaume Kazerouni. Le théâtre de Troie: Antoine Coypel, d'Homère à Virgile. Tours : Musée des beaux-arts ; Paris : LienArt, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 106, fig 45.
  • French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of a Young Man|url=false|author=Antoine Coypel|year=1715–1717|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.342