William Page, born Albany, NY 1811-died - Moses, Aaron and Hur on Mount Horeb (nude study) - ca. 1857 - T-Shirt

This is a pencil study of three unclothed men arranged around a raised staff, drawn in fine contour lines on yellowed paper.

Visual Elements & Composition

Pale yellow dominates the design, with the paper tone filling most of the frame and graphite grey appearing only in the line work. Three figures are grouped vertically across the sheet. At left, a figure lifts both arms, one hand gripping a long rod that angles up and out of the frame. At the centre, a smaller, more frontal figure stands with a hand raised to support the arm above. At right, a close-cropped figure lifts one arm toward the top edge while the other hand rests near the chest. The anatomy is set out in even, restrained contours with little shading, and faint fold lines cross the sheet.

Meaning & Symbolism

The grouping is a figure study for Exodus 17, the episode in which Moses holds up the staff of God on a hill above a battle, and Aaron and Hur support his arms until the fighting is won. Each figure answers a role in that scene: the raised arms, the supporting hand, and the companion who steadies the effort. Nineteenth-century artists drew the nude body this way to understand musculature, weight and gesture before clothing was added, because the strain of holding a raised arm was central to the story. William Page, born in Albany, New York, in 1811, was a portrait and history painter who spent many years in Italy studying Renaissance and Venetian painting and the academic tradition of figure drawing. Studies like this one were a standard step in preparing history paintings.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A tee carries its artwork across the chest and shoulders, so the raised arms and the rod sit where they can be read as the wearer moves. The fine line work rewards a closer look, which suits a shirt that is seen at arm's length in conversation rather than from across a room. The solemn, quiet tone of the drawing carries onto the garment without needing added colour or ornament.