Studies for a Flying Figure

Francis Augustus Lathrop's anatomical studies explore the human form in motion and suspension. The sheet presents multiple views of a male figure—a close study of the head and shoulders at left, and a full-length figure at right captured mid-leap or flight, with arms raised overhead and legs extended. Executed in pen and ink on tan paper, these drawings demonstrate Lathrop's attention to musculature and spatial positioning. Such studies were essential to late-nineteenth-century artistic practice, informing both fine art and the emerging field of commercial illustration that would shape visual storytelling in print.