Two deformed heads facing each other (1645, Met-Objekt 5499)
Original title: Two deformed heads facing each other
kurzbeschreibung
Two heads meet in profile in this 1645 etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, both twisted into grotesque form. Fine lines and dense hatching shape the stylized faces. The sheet belongs to Hollar's studies of deformed physiognomies.
Description
A spiral sits atop the left figure's head, while the right skull stays bald. Both pairs of eyes look out large and expressive, and broad, pointed noses push forward. Closely spaced diagonal strokes run across the surface, giving the arrangement depth and movement.
Context
Hollar, a Bohemian printmaker, worked in England and on the Continent in the seventeenth century. Around 1645, while employed by the Earl of Arundel, he turned to grotesque motifs alongside portraits and landscapes. Such distorted heads belong to a tradition reaching back to Leonardo da Vinci.
Impact
Tight hatching and exaggerated features lend the print a peculiar tension that comes close to unsettling. Through the distortion and the intense gaze of the eyes, the heads waver between the grotesque and the fascinating.
Technique
The work survives as an etching in the third of three states, suggesting the plate was reworked. Fine, closely set lines and hatching build contour and depth, characteristic of Hollar's precise manner.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)