Some Lay Figure Facts

In case you were wondering about lay figures in general, I've been doing some research myself and stumbled upon this excellent blog called 'The Human Form, A Life Drawing Blog (http://bristollifedrawing.wordpress.com/).

There's a great article by Will Stevens about the origins of lay figures! A lot of stuff even I didn't know! I've copied some of the most interesting facts bellow, but you can check out the post in the original context at:
http://bristollifedrawing.wordpress.com/2007/06/27/the-lay-figure-or-life-drawing-without-a-model/



‘A lay figure, if you didn’t know, is a jointed wooden doll used by artists’ as an aide to painting or drawing figures from imagination. The type that most people are familiar with has a very distinctive, almost lightbulb shaped head, slightly rounded but basically cylindrical limbs and very prominent ball and socket joints.’

‘…the lay figures of old were a different proposition altogether, some of them had faces and convincing musculature and came complete with outfits to wear. According to Vasari the first such figure was used by the painter Fra Bartolommeo and was said to be life-sized, made of wood and fully articulated. In the Stattliche museum in Berlin is a lay figure from South Germany which dates from 1520. There’s also a painting by Werner van den Valckert of a man with a lay figure in the JR Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The Museum of London web site has a good photo of a 64 cm high lay figure in it’s collection by the sculptor Louis Francois Roubiliac which also came with male and female clothing. ’

‘In 1878 Edgar Degas painted a strange portrait of the painter Henri Michel-Levy, leaning against the wall of his studio alongside one of his outdoor figure compositions. At his feet is a life-sized lay figure with a yellow hat and a red bow.’


‘The painter Walter Sickert owned a life-sized lay figure said to have once belonged to the painter Hogarth. The painting by Sickert entitled the Raising of Lazarus is actually based on a photograph of the same lay figure being hoisted upstairs into his studio.’

Fascinating stuff! Even for folks who aren't made out of wood. He also links to a real player file of an item on Women’s Hour from a few years ago concerning a lay figure that was discovered in Packwood House Museum in Warwickshire- defintely worth checking out!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_43_fri_05.shtml