Ecorché Drawing of Smugglerius
William Linnell, 1840-1842
Fitzwilliam Museum PD.32-1990
This drawing of an écorché (a body with flayed skin to reveal the musculature) was submitted by Linnell as part of his application to the Royal Academy of Arts. It was based on the life-sized cast of an écorché which had been positioned in the pose of the classical figure of The Dying Gaul, then considered to be one of the most poignant sculptures of the Roman period. The original cast was made for the leading virtuoso and surgeon William Hunter. The figure was known as Smugglerius, a reference to the crime for which he was executed.
