Alexandre Cabanel (French, 1823-1889)
Study for The Death of Moses, ca. 1851
Graphite, pen and brown ink, gray wash, heightened with white gouache on paper, 7 7/8 x 11 in.
1998.11

This detailed and squared drawing differs from the finished painting in several areas, notably the arms and head of God and the poses of the angels on Moses’s right. Since a final scale drawing is usually identical to the completed painting, this represents only a preliminary study that Cabanel later modified. The drawing’s curved top line suggests that Cabanel originally contemplated an arched frame for the painting.