Male Academy Figure: Half-Length, Side View

Male Academy Figure: Half-Length, Side View by Eugène Delacroix, executed between 1813 and 1823, is an oil on paper laid down on panel painting that documents the artist's foundational training in the classical French academic tradition. During this period, rigorous study of the nude model, known as the académie, was mandatory for developing mastery of anatomy and composition, essential skills required for success in Salon painting.

This piece captures the figure from the side, allowing Delacroix to emphasize the contours of the back and shoulder musculature through the careful application of oil. The medium, applied to paper before being mounted, suggests a quick, focused study characteristic of classroom exercises, where the emphasis was on capturing volumetric form rather than high finish. The emerging Romantic sensibility of the artist is nonetheless evident in the vigorous brushwork and the dramatic use of chiaroscuro to define mass against shadow.

The work is classified as a painting and provides crucial insight into the demanding curriculum Delacroix navigated as a young student studying under masters like Pierre-Narcisse Guérin. Such academic studies are invaluable for understanding the transition between Neoclassical discipline and the dynamic emotionalism of the later Romantic movement. Today, the painting resides in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. High-quality prints of this important academic study by Delacroix are frequently distributed through public domain initiatives, ensuring widespread access to works documenting the artist’s crucial developmental phase.