Study for Prometheus

William Page's anatomical sketch depicts the Titan in a reclining pose, rendered in pen on lined paper with the artist's characteristic attention to musculature and form. Page, a major American painter and sculptor of the nineteenth century, frequently drew from classical mythology. This preparatory study—informal, direct, executed on everyday writing paper—reveals the working method behind his monumental history paintings. The figure's dynamic sprawl and Page's confident line work demonstrate the anatomical precision that distinguished American academic art in the pre–Civil War era.