Four Heads (from Characaturas by Leonardo da Vinci, from Drawings by Wincelslaus Hollar, out of the Portland Museum) (1786, Met-Objekt 5561)
Original title: Four Heads (from Characaturas by Leonardo da Vinci, from Drawings by Wincelslaus Hollar, out of the Portland Museum)
kurzbeschreibung
Dated 1786, this etching by Wenceslaus Hollar brings together four stylized profile portraits, each set in its own frame within a square grid. The heads represent different ages and genders and are rendered in black and white with linear hatching.
Description
The layout feels orderly: four equally sized portraits occupy the quadrants, each enclosed in a separate frame, while the backgrounds remain blank. Distinct facial features and hairstyles emerge through contours and strokes. The drawing stays linear and graphic, with no visible light effects—an appearance typical of etching.
Context
This sheet was made in 1786 as a reproduction after drawings by Wenzel Hollar, which in turn derive from caricatures by Leonardo da Vinci. A collection in the Portland Museum served as the source. Hollar, a seventeenth-century Bohemian printmaker, was transmitted posthumously through such prints, which circulated in the eighteenth century as art-historical references.
Impact
The four heads are placed clearly and symmetrically, creating a calm, almost scientific mood. Because the lines are spare and backgrounds absent, the gaze goes directly to each face. Their very diversity sparks curiosity.
Technique
For this print, a metal plate was incised with lines and hatching and then etched—an etching process. The black-and-white reproduction, with precise contours and stroke layers, allows subtle gradations in facial features and hairstyles.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)