![American Collections — 0055 r [II. 29-32]](https://codex.venivididavinci.com/codices/usa-collection-drawings/highres/125_0055-r-II.-29-32.jpg)
Grotesque Heads: Four Caricatured Busts (nos. 29-32)
Four exaggerated head studies, one a confronting pair, mounted in a grid
Four head studies are arranged in a two-by-two grid, each numbered in ink in its upper corner (29, 30, 31, 32). Three panels hold single grotesque busts while the fourth pairs two heads confronting one another in profile. The faces are heavily caricatured with hooked noses, jutting jaws, and sagging flesh, and no text accompanies them beyond the plate numerals.
On this page
Man in a flapped soft cap (no. 29)
The upper-left panel shows a profile bust facing left of a lean old man in a soft cap with a hanging flap. His hooked nose and forward chin nearly meet over a small sunken mouth.
Heavy-jowled man in a pleated shirt (no. 30)
The upper-right panel is a lightly drawn three-quarter bust facing right of a bloated man with thick lips and heavy jowls, dressed in a pleated shirt. The features are broad and coarse and the shading is soft.
Man in a tall conical cap (no. 31)
The lower-left panel shows a profile bust facing right of a man in a tall conical cap over a buttoned doublet. The deeply lined cheek and long neck are carefully modeled with hatching.
Confronting pair, one laurel-wreathed (no. 32)
The lower-right panel places two grotesque heads in overlapping profile facing right, the foremost crowned with a wreath of leaves. Both have jutting jaws and puckered mouths, drawn as a confronting or conversing pair.