# Studies of a Roman Sarcophagus

- By: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
- Date: 1602/03
- Medium: Black chalk on cream laid paper
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: 28.5 × 42 cm (11 1/4 × 16 9/16 in.)
- Culture: Flanders
- Credit line: The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/84207)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/5c04dcac-19cf-28fc-8aec-f9654a4896c6/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Using chalk and a loose sheet of paper, Peter Paul Rubens depicted three figures from a sarcophagus likely seen in Roman collector Ciriaco Mattei’s garden. Rubens visited the Eternal City twice during his stay in Italy (1600–08).

Chalk was more portable than ink and therefore an easier medium in which to directly record the remnants of Classical antiquity. Rubens used it to convey the contours of specific sculptural elements as well as the shadows created by their volumes. In comparing this drawing to its source, one can appreciate how selectively Rubens extracted the figures from their architectural surround.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0