This is 'Study of a Nude Black Man' (1838) by Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856). Chassériau was born in El Limón in the Dominican Republic. He was the son of Benoît Chassériau, a French diplomat & Maria Magdalena Couret de la Blagniére, a mixed race woman from Haiti.
From a young age, Chassériau excelled in art & was tutored by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. He made his name painting nudes and portraits. Chassériau travelled throughout Europe, but it was the people and culture of North Africa and the Middle East that really inspired him
Chassériau never married and died at the age of 37 in Paris on October 8, 1856 after contracting a serious illness. Today his work is recognized across the world.
The man in the painting is probably a model known only as 'Joseph'. Joseph was born in Haiti around 1793, became one of the most well-known models of his day. This is Théodore Géricault's study of him painted in 1818
We can't known for certain that Chassériau used Joseph as a model, but the painting was commissioned by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who had requested Joseph was used. Very little is known about Joseph's life beyond the art that he inspired. musee-orsay.fr/en/events/exhi…
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