83 JEAN­AUGUSTE­ As an impoverished young artist living in Rome, Ingres earned his living almost entirely DOMINIQUE INGRES from drawing portraits of wealthy visitors to the city, though he despised the activity, French, 1780­1867 regarding history painting as his true vocation. "Damned portraits... they prevent me Portrait of Lord Grantham from getting on to great things," he once complained. But none of his reluctance Graphite emerges in this vivid likeness, whose abstract purity of line is so typical of the artist's 40.5 x 28.2 cm (15 15/16 x 11 1/18 in.) best portraiture—a sense of refinement that made his wealthy, noble patrons return to Cat. I, no. 76; 82.GD.106 him for more portraits. This drawing is signed and dated: Ingres Del. Rome. /1816. The sitter, the English peer Thomas Robinson, third Baron Grantham and later Earl de Grey, was thirty­five when he submitted himself to Ingres for his portrait. It must have been at the artist's request that Grantham removed his right glove, tucked his right hand behind the buttoned­down front of his tailed jacket, and crooked his arm to establish a dynamic counterpoint to the relaxed appearance of the rest of his body—the left arm hanging down limply, with the gloved hand holding his top hat and right glove, and the half "at ease" position of the legs. For all this, the handsome young nobleman looks back at the spectator a little shyly. The drawing shows the Basilica of Saint Peter in the background, viewed from the Arco Oscuro, a vantage point that Ingres chose also for other portraits. FRENCH SCHOOL 101