Head of an Old Man
Original title: Head of an Old Man
kurzbeschreibung
Louis Marin Bonnet made this 'Head of an Old Man' in the second half of the 18th century as a crayon manner engraving, printed in brown ink. It shows a realistic portrait of an elderly man with pronounced features and a striped shirt.
Description
An old man looks out from the sheet, his thick, wavy hair swept upward. Wrinkles line his face, and beard and moustache are combined. He wears a shirt whose sleeves carry stripes. The arrangement is centrally aligned, with light falling from the side that sharply separates shadows and contours. Brown in various gradations dominates the colouring, due to the brown printing ink.
Context
The Frenchman Louis Marin Bonnet is considered a master of the crayon manner process, which could imitate the impression of red chalk or pastel drawings. Such sheets often served in the 18th century to reproduce drawings. In that era, portraits of elderly people were in demand as studies of character.
Impact
The many wrinkles and the light falling from the side give the portrait an expressive, almost dramatic trait. The realistic handling makes the subject immediately present and directs the gaze to the life experience of the person portrayed.
Technique
The sheet was printed in brown ink using the crayon manner technique, in which dots and short strokes create the impression of chalk or pastel. The trimmed paper measures 41.6 × 28.8 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)