Jacques-Laurent Agasse was born into a wealthy Geneva merchant family of Huguenot origin. From an early age, he showed interest in drawing and attended the Calabri drawing school. In 1786, he left for Paris to continue his training in Jacques-Louis David's studio. The French Revolution forced him to return to Geneva, but he was soon invited to England by a young man with a passion for animal depictions. Agasse settled in London in 1800, where he became a painter of horses and dogs for wealthy aristocrats. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and other London institutions and succeeded in building up his reputation. However, he remained misunderstood by his contemporaries and critics, who considered him a second-rate master. Today, Jacques-Laurent Agasse is recognized as a major painter with a great talent for depicting animals and for his mastery of anatomical studies. His unique style combines the influence of the Geneva school with the techniques and inspirations he discovered in England. This double-sided study is part of Jacques-Laurent Agasse's regular production: on the recto, the artist draws a left hand (reminiscent of these hands), paying particular attention to the veins and bone structure. On the verso, Jacques-Laurent Agasse depicts a study of legs that can be identifies as those of Hercules by the presence of the club.