Three Female Heads
1734–1802
Medium
Pen and brown ink
Dimensions
sheet: 7 15/16 x 10 1/4 in. (20.2 x 26 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Anna Mont, in memory of Frederick Mont, 2010
Accession Number
2012.98.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate world of 18th-century Italian draftsmanship, *Three Female Heads* by Gaetano Gandolfi1734–1802) captures the artist's masterful command of line and form. A member of Bologna's renowned Gandolfi family of painters, Gandolfi worked in the graceful Rococo style transitioning toward Neoclassicism, often creating preparatory drawings for larger frescoes and altarpieces. This pen and brown ink study, executed on a modest sheet measuring 7 15/16 x 10 1/4 inches (20.2 x 26 cm), showcases three female profiles rendered with fluid, expressive strokes—likely studies for portraits or alleg...
About the Artist
Gaetano Gandolfi · 1734–1802
Gaetano Gandolfi (1734–1802) was an Italian painter and draughtsman who, together with his older brother Ubaldo Gandolfi, represented the finest flowering of the Bolognese school during the eighteenth century. Born in San Matteo della Decima, he trained in Bologna under Felice Torelli and Ercole Lelli before entering the Accademia Clementina, the leading artistic institution in the city, where he ...