Male torso from neck to hip in profile to left
Medium
Etching; only state
Dimensions
Plate: 4 5/8 × 2 7/8 in. (11.7 × 7.3 cm) cut on and just within platemark at right
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.18-237
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite etching, titled *Male Torso from Neck to Hip in Profile to Left*, captures the anatomical precision of a Renaissance master through the skilled hand of a 17th-century printmaker. Created by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1645 as the only state of this plate, it reproduces a study originally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The work depicts a muscular male torso in left profile, from neck to hip, showcasing Leonardo's renowned fascination with human anatomy during his dissections in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Measuring just 4 5/8 × 2 7/8 inches, the intimate scale invites clos...
About the Artist
Leonardo da Vinci|Wenceslaus Hollar · 1452–1519
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) stands as the quintessential Renaissance polymath, whose genius spanned painting, sculpture, architecture, science, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, geology, cartography, botany, and writing. Born in Vinci, Italy, as the illegitimate son of a notary, Leonardo received limited formal education but demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent from an early age. His appr...