Study for Saint Gervasius ca. 1652 Eustache Le Sueur French One of the founders of French classicism, Le Sueurs contemporaries considered him on par with Nicolas Poussin and Charles Le Brun. He did not make the traditional trip to Italy, but was trained in the busy studio of Simon Vouet, whose pleasing decorative style he assimilated. He went on, in his independent work, to absorb the lessons of Raphael and Poussin, moving towards a greater simplicity and monumentality. The Metropolitans drawing dates to Le Sueurs late years when he sought to unite severity and refinement in his work. This draped study prepares the central figure of Saint Gervasius in Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius Led before Astasius (Musée du Louvre, Paris), the first cartoon from a projected series of six commissioned from Le Sueur in 1652 by the church wardens of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais, Paris. Le Sueurs early death prevented him from completing the project. A second cartoon, depicting the Flagellation