Ecorché: Right Arm and Shoulder Blade with Right Hand Intact

The work Ecorché: Right Arm and Shoulder Blade with Right Hand Intact by Edgar Degas is a foundational anatomical study executed between 1857 and 1858, dating from the pivotal early years of the artist’s career. This detailed drawing utilizes a classical combination of charcoal for definition and structural mass, complemented by red chalk applied to suggest the contours and intricate muscular structure of the limb. This duality of media showcases Degas’s dedication to mastering academic drawing fundamentals, a necessary step before he pursued his groundbreaking work in modern subject matter.

The subject, an ecorché (flayed figure), represents the academic rigor required of nineteenth-century artists, who often studied plaster casts or life models to achieve a thorough understanding of human physiology. Focusing specifically on the musculature surrounding the shoulder blade, the clavicle, and the complex anatomy of the intact right hand, this piece demonstrates the young artist's impressive command of skeletal and muscular dynamics. Such intensive anatomical study laid the groundwork for the dynamic poses and sophisticated realism later evident in Degas’s paintings and pastels of dancers and bathers.

Classified simply as a drawing, this work provides crucial insight into the classical preparation that underpinned the career of the Impressionist master. Today, this historically significant drawing is housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As a vital document of artistic pedagogy and an early example of Degas’s draftsmanship, high-quality prints and reproductions of the study are increasingly available through public domain collections worldwide.