The Prisoner
1804
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1804
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Prisoner is a 1804 by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This sketch shows three figures in a dim, shadowy room. A woman in a long dress stands near a doorway, holding something small. Two men are on the floor—one is bent over, reaching toward the other, who is curled up on the ground. The artist uses deep contrasts between light and dark to create drama. The woman’s face is lit, but the men are mostly in shadow. Look up chiaroscuro next to see how this lighting works.
