Neptune

Walter Shirlaw's preparatory sketch depicts the Roman god of the sea in dynamic motion, rendered with pen and ink wash. The muscular figure strides through churning waves, trident raised, wearing a Phrygian cap and flowing drapery. Loose, energetic linework defines the musculature and swirling water, while lighter washes suggest depth and atmosphere. Shirlaw's classical subject demonstrates the academic training and mythological imagery that dominated late 19th-century American artistic practice, blending Renaissance anatomical study with Romantic expressiveness in movement and composition.