Gladiator
XVIII century. Red chalk on laid paper.Not on display
This is a copy of the classical sculpture The Borghese Gladiator, signed by Agasias of Ephesus and now in the Musée du Louvre. There is another copy in the Museo del Prado (D001996). In this one, the gladiator is portrayed with his back turned and against a landscape background to simulate reality.
It is the work of a Spanish pensioner in Rome. It had an attribution, or signature, which is currently cut and illegible.
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Catálogo de Dibujos. Vol. III. Dibujos Españoles, Siglo XVIII. C-Z, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 1977, p.146
