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an image of a drawing of a woman ' s face on a piece of papera picture of a piece of old paper on a white surface
Dams Casa d'Aste

8 - Study of a young man’s head (Front); Study of a young girl’s…
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Estimate €150 - €250
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Description
Study of a young man’s head (Front); Study of a young girl’s head (Back) Red chalk on paper, 268 x 186 mm An interesting sheet drawn on both sides, characterised by the presence of two stylistically distinct head studies. On the recto, the face of a young boy, lightly sketched in red chalk with swift, light strokes, displays a sensibility reminiscent of the 17th-century Bolognese drawing tradition. The concise rendering of the facial features, achieved with just a few essential strokes, recalls the practice of drawing from life typical of the 17th-century Emilian art scene. This study finds an interesting point of comparison in the graphic work of the Carracci family, particularly in certain studies dedicated to the depiction of a head tilted sharply back and viewed in foreshortening. Particularly significant is the comparison with Annibale Carracci’s *Head of a Woman, facing forwards, turned to the right*, c. 1601, Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. 12013, where we find a similar backward rotation of the head, the marked foreshortening of the face and the role of the ear as a reference point in the anatomical construction.However, Annibale had already explored this motif in his early years, as evidenced by the reclining male nude with his head tilted backwards, held at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and datable to around 1584. Such comparisons place our drawing within the context of a graphic exploration particularly dear to the Carracci family, centred on life drawing and extreme foreshortening of the human figure. The reverse side, on the other hand, presents a more accomplished study of a young girl’s head, also executed in red chalk but with a noticeably different approach. The face, rendered with a sharp outline and broad shading, reveals a more idealised style and a sensibility that is now fully eighteenth-century in character. Particular attention is paid to the definition of the gaze, the oval of the face and the hairstyle, whilst the modulation of the red chalk lends the figure a delicate chiaroscuro effect. On the front, there are numerical inscriptions in pen.
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About the sale Paintings and Drawings from the 15th to the 19th century
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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