The Death of the Children of Niobe
Rome, 1820
Pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white
454 x 684 mm
Metz lived in Rome from 1801 until his death in 1827. This highly-worked presentation drawing treats the slaughter of Niobe’s seven sons and seven daughters by Apollo and Diana, a subject from Ovid (Metamorphoses VI, 204-312), and contains quotations from numerous classical sculptures. It brilliantly exemplifies the international neo-classical style of the time, not previously represented in the Barber collection.
Signed and dated lower right: C.M.Metz/ Roma 1820.
Purchased 1991 (No. 91.2)