Head and shoulder of a child, in profile to right
Original title: Head and shoulder of a child, in profile to right
kurzbeschreibung
A child's head turned to the right in profile, with short wavy hair and notably large ears, appears in this 1645 etching by Wenceslaus Hollar. The child is bare-shouldered and cropped at the shoulder, set against an empty ground. The sheet, in its only state, measures 8.6 x 5.9 cm.
Description
The child faces right in profile, the short wavy hair suggested with fine strokes. The ears stand out large and distinct, the neck is sturdy, and the shoulder remains uncovered. Nothing fills the background, so attention stays entirely on the figure. Worked in black and white, the print builds the face and shoulders mostly from diagonal hatching, denser in some passages and looser in others. A line of text at the top of the sheet notes where the drawing came from.
Context
Hollar, a seventeenth-century Bohemian printmaker, was known for his richly detailed etchings. In 1645 he was working in England, among others for the collector Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel. Child portraits were rare in Baroque printmaking; Hollar nonetheless made several studies of children, often serving as models for larger compositions. What this sheet was actually for is not recorded; it may have stood alone as a study or belonged to a series.
Impact
Precise linework and a clear arrangement give the etching an immediate, intimate presence. By limiting itself to the child's profile against an empty ground, the sheet takes on a quiet, almost scientific air. Fine hatching creates volume and stresses the delicacy of the child's body.
Technique
For this etching the drawing was incised into a metal plate and then bitten with acid. The fine lines and graded hatching point to careful control of the etching needle. That only a single state exists suggests the sheet was printed without later reworking, a sign of the authenticity of the original design.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)