The Drawing

through the use of muscles. This study is done from a living and fully nude man, called the model, whom one poses in whatever position one wishes: the copies made from this model, whether with a pencil on paper, or by modeling with clay or wax, these copies, I say, are called Academies; several examples of which can be found in this volume, on Plates 39 and following, which may be useful to people who are not able to do this study from nature. However, the study from the model is absolutely necessary for those who want to become skilled in drawing, and at the same time, it is difficult, that a young person who already knows how to draw quite well, and even handles his pencil with taste, finds himself sometimes obliged to start afresh when he comes to draw from nature, and hardly can he then put his figure together. This is where one must somehow forget everything else one may know, and without stopping at the manner in which one used to draw an arm, a leg, or any other part of the body, one will focus solely on rendering nature as one sees it. Above all, one must not draw from memory then, instead of following the model, because that would no longer be a profitable study, but a truly mechanical occupation from which one would not gain any benefit for their advancement.

One must get used to quickly seizing the action of the figure and the main movements of the muscles, because in the first moments that the model is posed, all parts of the body work with more force; whereas their action slows down when it has been some time that he holds the same pose.

Translation Notes

• 'Académies' refers to artistic renditions based on live models, a traditional practice in art education.
• The term 'model' indicates the subject being drawn or sculpted from, usually posed in a natural state.