My Favorite Drawing and Artefact at Morgan Library & Museum in New York City

Morgan Library & Museum in New York City is one of many jewels in that grand city.

I was great touched by a drawing study of Peter Paul Rubens, Seated Male Youth (Study for Daniel), done in lack chalk, heightened with white chalk, on light gray paper. This drawing, a preparatory work for painting Daniel in the Lions' Den, depicted the agonized youth in supplication. The heightened facial emotion and the tensed torso of the muscular sitter, the bold outlines, the effective shading, and the detailed and accurate facial and hand features, left a great impression on viewers. As usual, one could see Ruben's genuine touches and craftsmanship on his drawings and oil sketches, versus his monumental finished works, which often were completed by his assistants under his supervision.


Seated Nude Youth Seated Male Youth (Study for Daniel), Peter Paul Rubens
Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on light gray paper
19 11/16 x 11 3/4 inches (500 x 299 mm)

Another marvelous thing I admired at Morgan Library & Museum was a cylinder seal and its impression, A Winged Hero Contesting with a Lion for a Bull, dating to Neo-Babylonian period (ca.1000–539 B.C.). From the rectangular impression, one could see the fine details of the proud hero, the roaring lion, and the hapless bull between the powerful rivals. The fine details of numerous curly formations of the hair,  the beard, the mane, the wings, and the claws, were all rendered with amazing control. The enigmatic cuneiform writing, helped to balance the composition, also added depth to the wonderful tableau.


A Winged Hero Contesting with a Lion for a Bull, Cylinder seal and impression
Mesopotamia, Neo-Babylonian period ca.1000–539 B.C.
Carnelian 38.5 x 18 mm

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 143: My Favorite Paintings at Art Institute of Chicago
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 141: My Favorite Paintings at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- My Favorite Paintings at New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
- Art in Subway Station, New York City
- Barry McGee Mural, Soho, New York 2010
- Neue Galerie New York - Austrian and German Art Gallery
- The Cloisters - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
- Arslan: In the Midst of a Single Breath - Dillon Gallery, New York
- Morgan Library and Museum in New York City