Hermaphrodite

The drawing Hermaphrodite by Peter Paul Rubens, executed sometime between 1600 and 1699, represents the artist’s profound engagement with classical sculpture and the intense study of anatomy. Classified as a drawing, the work is rendered masterfully in red chalk heightened with white, a technique that allows Rubens to quickly capture volume, movement, and the play of light. The red chalk defines the contours and musculature, while the precise application of white chalk serves to emphasize the dramatic highlights, lending the piece the chiaroscuro effects characteristic of the Flemish Baroque style.

This specific study focuses intensely on the figure of a Hermaphrodite, a subject drawn directly from Greco-Roman mythology and sculptural traditions. These classical prototypes fascinated Baroque masters, allowing Rubens to explore idealized anatomical forms and the complexities of human musculature, often as preparatory work for his monumental oil paintings. The drawing demonstrates the artist’s keen eye for sculptural modeling, illustrating how he translated three-dimensional classical statues into dynamic two-dimensional studies ready for incorporation into larger narrative compositions.

The work serves as a powerful example of the celebrated Flemish artist’s preparatory process. Today, the original drawing resides in the renowned collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York. As many of Rubens’s drawings and sketches from this period are now in the public domain, art enthusiasts and students worldwide have access to high-quality prints and reproductions of the drawing for detailed study and appreciation.