Caricature Head in Profile with a Draped Figure
Pen and ink study on an irregularly cut sheet
The sheet carries a rapid pen-and-ink caricature: a head seen in profile facing right, crowned by a spiky, leaf-like headdress and given a sharply exaggerated, hooked nose in the grotesque manner. Below the head the artist has brushed in a heavily draped upper body, its folds rendered in loose, dark strokes. The paper has been trimmed to an irregular L-shaped outline and the ink is faded in places. No transcribed text accompanies the drawing.
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Grotesque head in profile
A single head is drawn in strict profile turned to the right, with a jutting brow, deep-set eye, and a pronounced hooked nose typical of Leonardo's caricature or grotesque heads. A crest of pointed, foliate forms rises from the crown like an elaborate headdress or hair. The features are built up with fine hatched lines and a few emphatic dark accents.
Draped body below the head
Beneath the head the artist sketches a robed torso, its garment falling in broad folds indicated by sweeping dark washes and outlines. The drapery is loosely handled, subordinate to the study of the head above. The lower edge of the figure dissolves into the trimmed edge of the sheet.