Reminiscent of Benjamin West’s history painting of the seventeenth-century Battle of La Hogue (c. 1775–80, NGA) and Copley’s own Watson and the Shark (1778, NGA), this study reveals the continued development of the artistic theme of rescued figures pulled from turbulent waters. Shown with two studies—two figures pulling on an oar and a rough sketch of a leaning figure with head upturned—the outstretched nude is the most finished drawing of the group and is squared for transfer to canvas. These figures relate to the rescue groups on the left side of Copley’s final canvas.

The pose of the nude, gripped at the wrist by a rescuer, echoes that of Brook Watson in Copley’s Watson and the Shark, which, in turn, recalls ancient and Old Master prototypes such as the Borghese Gladiator; the first-century A.D. sculpture of The Laocoon, and the deranged child in Raphael’s The Transfiguration. History painters borrowed poses from admired ancient sculptures as well as Old Master paintings to emulate the grandeur and nobility associated with biblical and mythological figures.

Related examples: The rescued nude relates to about fourteen other studies, including works in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; MMA; and the British Museum, London.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.