Study for an Angel in Adoration

Francis Augustus Lathrop's pen sketch depicts an angel in flowing robes, head bowed in devotion, with large wings rendered in delicate cross-hatching. The rapid, gestural linework captures the figure's contemplative posture and drapery in motion. Lathrop, an American painter, designer, and muralist, used such studies as preparatory drawings for larger religious and decorative works. This sketch demonstrates the artist's classical training in figure drawing and his interest in religious iconography during the late nineteenth century, a period when American artists increasingly engaged with academic traditions while developing distinctive national styles.