Existing comment:
Francesco Melzi, after Leonardo da Vinci
Two Grotesque Heads
1510s
Leonardo was the first artist to explore facial appearance for its own sake. It is doubtful that these drawings were caricatures of actual individuals. Rather, they represent types. Some suggest an attempt to capture the physical manifestation of an emotion and relate to figures in his paintings. Most, however, seem to arise from the imagination, with no specific source or purpose. This pair of studies was surely created in Leonardo's studio, probably by his most faithful pupil, Francesco Melzi. |