Head of a young man in agony

The present drawing can be related to figures in two history paintings by Vincent, whose manner stradles those of Jacques-Louis David and of Fragonard: The Rape of the Sabine Women of 1781 (Musée d’Angers, inv. MBA J 178; see Cuzin, op. cit., no. 380 P, ill.), and the lost Achilles rescued by Vulcan of 1782-1783 (ibid., no. 402 P). Following the dates of these works, Jean-Pierre Cuzin has suggested a date for the present drawing around 1780-1782. The signature in pen and brown ink is comparable to one found on a black and white chalk study for Diana and Actaeon, dated 1778 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. 62.124.1; ibid., no. 338 D, ill p. 100).