Two Deformed Heads Facing Inwards

Art Historical Context

"Two Deformed Heads Facingwards" is a captivating etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, created around 1645, faithfully reproducing studies attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.lar, a masterful Bohemian printmaker active in 17th-century England, renowned for his meticulous reproductive etchings that brought Renaissance masterpieces to wider audiences. This intimate sheet, measuring just 4 5/8 × 2 15/16 inches, captures Leonardo's fascination with grotesque and pathological forms—two contorted heads pressed inward, their exaggerated features evoking raw human expression and anatomical curiosity. Leonardo's original sketches, likely from his notebooks, exemplify his innovative approach to physiognomy and caricature, blending scientific observation with artistic invention. These "deformed heads" reflect his studies of extreme emotions and deformities, influencing later artists in portraiture and caricature. Hollar's etching technique—using acid to etch fine lines into a metal plate—preserves the delicate hatching and cross-hatching of Leonardo's penwork with remarkable precision, making complex Renaissance drawings accessible through print. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, thanks to a 2022 gift from Barbara E. Fox and the Collection of Howard A. Fox, MD, this work bridges centuries, highlighting printmaking's role in democratizing art and Leonardo's enduring legacy in exploring the human form's extremes.

About the Artist

Wenceslaus Hollar|Leonardo da Vinci · 1607–1677

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) was a prolific Bohemian etcher who became one of the most accomplished printmakers of the seventeenth century. Born in Prague, he trained under Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt before entering the service of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, in 1636. Hollar spent most of his career in England, where he produced approximately 2,740 etchings documenting an extraordinary range...