Mercury
Check out the sheer muscle definition in this study of Mercury! Anthony van Dyck, a Flemish Baroque prodigy who was painting masterpieces before he could legally drink, sketched this nude figure with incredible precision. Notice the curly hair and the outstretched arms—classic poses for the messenger god of Roman mythology. Van Dyck was actually an assistant to the famous Peter Paul Rubens, and you can see that master's influence in the bold, confident lines used to build up the body's form. Even the jagged edge at the top hints that this was a working sketch, a raw look at how Baroque artists studied anatomy to perfection.
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