Benjamin West, P.R.A. (1738-1820)

West first saw the Apollo Belvedere on 11 July 1760, shortly after arriving in Rome and famously exclaimed, 'My God! How like it is to a young Mohawk warrior!' The present drawing was not, however, executed at the time of this first exposure. The blue paper and black chalk suggest that instead it dates from the early 1780s, when West adopted these materials for his life studies (see lot 31).