Thomas Eakins, American, b. - (Untitled) (Anatomical Study of Bones) - 1878 - T-Shirt

This 1878 pencil study by Thomas Eakins lays out the bones and muscles of the shoulder and arm in two precise views, with handwritten labels keyed to the drawing.

Visual Elements & Composition

The sheet is pale off-white, with graphite-grey pencil and ink-black lettering doing nearly all the work. A long bone with a rounded head dominates the centre, its surface shaded with diagonal hatching that wraps around it to describe the muscle. A smaller view on the right isolates a joint, marking its ends and attachment points with small letters. Handwritten notes run down the left and upper right margins, naming the short and long abductors and their insertions and origins, so the text and drawing read together as a single working diagram.

Meaning & Symbolism

The drawing records close observation of the body, the method that underpinned academic art instruction in the nineteenth century. Eakins (1844–1916), a painter and teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, studied anatomy through dissection and careful drawing, and this kind of study sheet was central to his training. Naming each muscle in his own hand fixed that knowledge on paper, linking form to mechanism so that the movement of a limb could be drawn and painted accurately.

Fitting the Design to This Tee

Pencil studies like this are made to be read up close, and the crew-neck tee shows the drawing at chest height, where the bone, the hatching and the lettered notes can be seen as the wearer moves. The open ground of the sheet suits a plain garment, letting the precise linework stand clear against the fabric.