The Shadow of the Master Lods, France, 1794. A son of a winemaker enters a world where the lines between Neoclassicism and Romanticism begin to blur. Joseph-Ferdinand Lancrenon does not wander aimlessly into the studios of Paris; he finds his way to Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson. Under this tutelage, the sinuous contours and elegant forms of the Neoclassical style take root. The studio becomes a place of precision, where black chalk and white stumping on off-white paper allow for the delicate modeling of flesh and the heavy fall of drapery. The year 1817 brings a moment of intense scrutiny. In…