Edgar DegasFrench, 1834–1917René de Gas
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “René de Gas” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1995.47.8
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Edgar Degas
The whole life1853
The Louvre instead of the law
After graduating from the lycée in 1853 Degas registered as a copyist in the Louvre, although his father expected him to become a lawyer; in November he duly enrolled in the Faculty of Law but applied little effort to his studies.
1854
The studio of Louis Lamothe, a pupil of Ingres
At twenty Degas entered the studio of Louis Lamothe, a pupil and follower of Ingres. In the Louvre he copied Poussin and Holbein the Younger, and Courbet and Delacroix influenced him.
1855
Meets Ingres; the École des Beaux-Arts
In 1855 Degas met Ingres, whom he revered, and was advised to draw lines and still more lines, from life and from memory. In April of that year he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied drawing with Lamothe.
July 1856 – 1859
Three years in Italy
In July 1856 Degas left for Italy, where he stayed for three years. He copied Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian but, contrary to convention, usually picked out of an altarpiece a detail that caught his eye — a secondary figure or a head that he treated as a portrait.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
