Four Heads (from Characaturas by Leonardo da Vinci, from Drawings by Wincelslaus Hollar, out of the Portland Museum) (1786, Met-Objekt 5565)
Original title: Four Heads (from Characaturas by Leonardo da Vinci, from Drawings by Wincelslaus Hollar, out of the Portland Museum)
kurzbeschreibung
This 1786 etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, titled Vier Köpfe, gathers four portrait heads seen from the side, each set within its own square field. The upright monochrome print, 19.5 by 16 cm, works as a study of contrasting facial expressions.
Description
A profile head occupies each of the four square frames. Every one has its own expression and its own arrangement of hair and headgear. The linework is detailed, with strokes that vary in weight so that forms and surfaces stand out with a sculptural fullness. Light falls evenly on all four heads and no shadows appear, which points to the sheet's purpose as a study.
Context
Made in 1786, the etching belongs to a series that goes back to drawings by Wenzel Hollar, which in turn rest on caricatures by Leonardo da Vinci. Hollar, a Bohemian printmaker of the seventeenth century, was valued for his meticulous etchings and his reproductions of well-known works. The title names the Portland Museum, pointing to where the source material was held. In the eighteenth century such study sheets helped spread knowledge of art.
Impact
The strict arrangement of four heads in squares gives the sheet a calm, almost scientific mood and invites close comparison of the expressions. Even lighting and precise lines lend the portraits a clear, matter-of-fact presence of the kind typical of graphic studies.
Technique
Etching is an intaglio process in which lines are bitten into a metal plate. Varying etching times and manual reworking produce the changing weight of the strokes. The print was pulled on paper measuring 20.1 by 16.5 cm; the plate itself measures 19.5 by 16 cm.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)