Two Grotesque Heads in Profile
Red-chalk caricature profiles on two joined paper fragments
Two fragments of paper, joined at the centre, each carry a grotesque head drawn in red chalk. The left fragment shows a bald, heavy-jawed man in profile facing right, his features exaggerated into a caricature with a jutting brow and sagging cheek and neck. The right fragment holds a second exaggerated profile head with an oversized nose and coarse features. Both fragments bear the Biblioteca Ambrosiana collector's stamp.
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Bald grotesque head, left fragment
A bald, elderly man is drawn in profile facing right, his skull rounded and bare and his jaw thrust forward. The brow, cheek and slack neck are worked in soft red chalk into a caricature of age. Shoulders are indicated with a few loose strokes below the chin.
Grotesque head, right fragment
The right fragment carries a second exaggerated profile, its nose enlarged and its features coarsened in the manner of a caricature. The chalk is fainter here and the head sits amid the torn and stained edges of the paper. Trailing strokes below suggest hair or the collar of a garment.