 |
| Francesco Lorenzi Drapery Study before 1787 drawing Minneapolis Institute of Art |
 |
| Jean-Baptiste Deshays Half-figure of a Man before 1765 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Francesco Goya Draped Model from the back ca. 1771 drawing Museo del Prado, Madrid |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David Figure-study for The Death of Socrates ca. 1786-87 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Consider Socrates
recumbent
on his cot, draped in a freshly
laundered toga, beard shampooed
and fluffed, the cup of hemlock
in his hand – how, certainly,
the night before, he'd sorted
through his aphorisms, taking
care to jettison any less-than-
cogent thoughts.
We all say
we want it to be sudden: a light-
ning bolt to the brain, a stutter
in the arteries, then sleep, or
something like it – our hands still
clutching the rake or an atlas
turned to a map of Afghanistan,
but wouldn't it be better to know?
A three-month
warning
would be nice; you'd want to burn
those letters nestled in a shoebox
on the closet shelf, finish up
the pint of Seagram's hidden
in the desk's third drawer and
trash the butt-sprung underwear
a derelict would be ashamed
to wear
to any accident,
the way, before embarking on a trip
to Buffalo or Budapest, one feels
compelled to mend the toaster,
broken since last New Year's day
and polish up the silver candle-
sticks turned umber on the cupboard
shelf. Some sort
of portent
would be helpful (nothing morbid
or alarming), an angel or your mother,
say, appearing in a dream to whisper
August second, or September tenth,
time enough to put your house
in perfect order before you take
your place among the tidy,
blameless dead.
– Miriam Vermilya (1998)
 |
| David Pierre Giottino Humbert de Superville Académie 1789 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
 |
| Jean-Guillaume Moitte Kneeling Draped Male Figure 1776 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Mariano Salvador Maella Académie 1759 drawing Museo del Prado, Madrid |
 |
| follower of Giuseppe Cades Alexander the Great demonstrating his trust in Philip, his Physician ca. 1790 drawing with watercolor Wellcome Collection, London |
 |
| Anonymous French Artist after Francesco Vanni Body of St Catherine of Siena carried in Procession 18th century drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Charles-Michel-Ange Challe Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Campidoglio, Rome before 1778 drawing Harvard Art Museums |
 |
| François Roettiers Bacchanal before 1742 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Antonio Zucchi Classical Landscape with Ruined Temple on a Hill and Female Figures below before 1795 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
 |
| Francesco Guardi Architectural Fantasy - Figures on a Grand Staircase before 1793 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Francesco Guardi and Giacomo Guardi Partly-ruined Colonnade with Figures ca. 1780-90 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |