This drawing was made by James Ward when he was visitor of the Royal Academy Schools in 1819. As visitor, Ward would have been expected to set the life model for the young students to then draw, he would also have been expected to make studies himself of the pose to encourage and inspire the students of the Academy Schools.
This fluid drawing is the result of Ward’s period as visitor and shows the kind of informal studies Academician’s took in the Schools. James Ward was elected visitor in 1818, in total eight Academicians rotated the role at once, drawing lots to determine who would serve when. Ward was elected with William Beechey, Augustus Wall Callcott, Henry Howard, Thomas Lawrence, James Northcote, William Owen and Thomas Phillips. They were paid 10s. 6d. for each time they attended. There had been some objection to Ward’s serving as a visitor, supposedly because of his being a painter of animals and this may explain both the care and ambition of the present drawing.
