Head of an Old Man
Red-chalk study, near-frontal view; circle of Leonardo, ca. 1510-1525
A red-chalk study, on orange-toned paper, of an old man's head seen nearly frontally: bald across the crown with straggling curls at the temples, a heavy furrowed brow, deep-set eyes and a stern, downturned mouth. The institution's catalogue records the sheet as "Testa di vecchio," dated between about 1510 and 1525 and attributed to the circle of Leonardo da Vinci. The sheet carries no text.
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Frontal head of a stern old man
The aged face fills the sheet, its broad bald skull framed by loose curls above the ears and a lined, weathered brow drawn together over sunken eyes. The nose is heavy and the mouth set in a grim, downturned line, the whole modelled in dense red-chalk shading against the warm ground. Only the head and a little of the neck are shown.