Figures in a Spring Landscape - Maurice Denis

Drawing Detail

Figures in a Spring Landscape
Artist: Maurice Denis
Medium: Drawings, Pen and Indian ink, crayons and yellow pastel on greyish-brown paper, 33.3x49.8 cm
Date: 1897
Genre: Genre Painting
Source: Gift of D. Denis, the artist's son, 1977

This drawing is the first sketch of a composition for the 1897 painting Figures in a Spring Landscape, or The Sacred Grove. Later the artist slightly changed the arrangement of the figures. However, the sketch shows that the meaning of this allegoric composition remained the same. It was typical of Denis to combine elements from Greek and Roman mythology and Christian symbolism with events from his private life.