Four Heads (from Characaturas by Leonardo da Vinci, from Drawings by Wincelslaus Hollar, out of the Portland Museum) (1786, Met-Objekt 5572)
Original title: Four Heads (from Characaturas by Leonardo da Vinci, from Drawings by Wincelslaus Hollar, out of the Portland Museum)
kurzbeschreibung
Wenceslaus Hollar's 1786 etching Vier Köpfe presents four separate human heads in profile, each set within its own square frame. The print belongs to a series based on drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, which Hollar translated into reproductive engravings.
Description
Four individual head portraits fill their own square fields, their gazes directed in different directions. Facial features and hairstyles vary from head to head, as do the expressions. The image remains black and white, with contours and shading built from precisely placed lines and strokes. Backgrounds or accompanying elements are entirely absent. The execution appears clear and detailed, suggesting careful workmanship.
Context
The sheet was made in 1786 as part of a series derived from caricatures by Leonardo da Vinci and transferred into reproductive prints by Wenceslaus Hollar. Hollar, a seventeenth-century Bohemian printmaker, was known for detailed etchings often based on works by famous artists. The addition 'from the Portland Museum' names the collection that held the originals and points to the practice of art reproduction in the eighteenth century.
Impact
Cleanly drawn lines and the concentration on the essentials of the heads give the print a calm and precise quality. Because the facial expressions change, liveliness is added, while the even arrangement in frames creates an ordered, almost scientific mood.
Technique
The work is executed as an etching, an intaglio process in which the drawing is worked into a metal plate and then etched with acid. Fine lines and hatching serve for shading and are characteristic of Hollar's approach. The plate measures 19.5 x 15.9 cm, the sheet 20 x 16.5 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)