Grotesque Heads: Four Caricature Profiles (nos. 5-8)
Album leaf mounting four pen studies with fantastic headgear
Four small pen-and-ink caricature heads are mounted on this album leaf, numbered 5 to 8. Each is a profile study of a coarse, aging face paired with fantastic hairstyles or headdresses, from a pointed cap to a tall spiral topknot and jewelled coils. No written text accompanies the drawings.
On this page
No. 5: figure in a pointed cap
A head in right profile wears a tall, folded pointed cap. The face is drawn with protruding lips and a jutting chin, the shoulder covered by a puffed sleeve.
No. 6: man with tall spiral topknot
A grotesque man faces right, his hair drawn up into a tall, tapering topknot bound at the crown. The mouth is open to show teeth in a snarling, caricatured expression.
No. 7: wild-haired figure in profile
A head faces left with tousled hair and an extremely deformed lower face, the nose and chin thrust forward toward one another. The neck and shoulder are sketched below.
No. 8: figure with jewelled coiled hair
A caricature head in right profile wears an elaborate coiled coiffure ornamented with rows of beads or pearls. The deformed features sit above a beaded neckline and draped bodice.
![American Collections — 0055 r [II. 5-8]](https://codex.venivididavinci.com/codices/usa-collection-drawings/highres/119_0055-r-II.-5-8.jpg)