The Prisoner

The Prisoner is a powerful drawing executed by the Neoclassical master Jacques-Louis David between 1816 and 1822. Created using black chalk on cream laid paper, the work exemplifies David’s meticulous attention to form and dramatic staging, even in preparatory studies. This important piece of French art history, classified simply as a drawing, is held within the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Executed late in David’s career while he was living in political exile in Brussels following the defeat of Napoleon, the drawing’s subject matter likely reflects the artist’s own sense of isolation and constraint. David, renowned for monumental canvases like The Oath of the Horatii, here scales down the drama, concentrating emotional power into a singular figure. The precise use of chalk creates sharp contrasts, defining volume and texture with stark clarity, typical of the mature style he maintained during his final years of production.

Although an independent work, studies like this often served as essential stages in the larger creative process or were later replicated. Because of the drawing’s significance and its presence in a major institutional holding, high-quality images and related prints are frequently available for study and reference. As a work produced in the early 19th century, this image may eventually enter the public domain, making high-resolution reproductions fully accessible to students of Neoclassicism worldwide.