Head of a Boy

Art Historical Context

Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection, *Head of a Boy* is a delicate 15th-century metalpoint drawing by the enigmatic Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula, an anonymous artist active in the Northern Renaissance, particularly in the Flemish tradition around Bruges. Measuring just 3 1/8 x 2 1/4 inches, this intimate sheet captures the tender features of a young boy's face with remarkable precision, evoking the era's fascination with realistic portraiture amid religious and secular themes. Metalpoint, the drawing's medium, exemplifies early Renaissance technique: a stylus of silver or other metal incised lines onto a prepared ground, often coated with bone ash or similar for subtle tonal effects. Prized for its fine, unforgiving lines before graphite's invention, it was favored for preparatory studies by masters like Rogier van der Weyden, with whom this artist is associated through vivid narrative cycles like the Legend of Saint Ursula. This work's subtle hatching and contouring highlight the boy's expressive gaze, blending portraiture with the devotional intensity of the time. Acquired in 2008 through the Guy Wildenstein Gift, *Head of a Boy* offers a window into 15th-century workshop practices, where such small-scale sketches honed skills for larger altarpieces. Its survival underscores the enduring allure of these ephemeral gems, inviting visitors to marvel at the master's anonymous genius.