Timotheus Playing the Lyre before Alexander and Thaïs in the Hall of the Palace at Persepolis
1820
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1820
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This sketch shows a grand, empty hall with tall columns and a high ceiling. A crowd of people stands in the background, some playing instruments, others watching. In the middle, a man in classical clothes walks toward a group near a raised platform. The lines are faint and precise, almost like a blueprint. The artist used a lot of thin, crisscrossed lines to build up shadows and shapes. This was likely a study for a bigger painting, with notes and measurements scribbled around the edges. Look up cross-hatching to see how artists use lines to create depth.
