Two Grotesque Heads
Medium
Etching; only state
Dimensions
sheet (clipped impression): 4 3/16 x 6 5/8 in. (10.6 x 16.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.18-164
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Two Grotesque Heads an exquisite etching from the 1640s, captures the Renaissance master's fascination with human expression through the skilled hand of Wenceslaus Hollar, a Bohemian engraver renowned for his meticulous reproductive prints. Attributed in part to designs by Leonardo da Vinci and possibly an anonymous Netherlandish artist, this sole-state impression reproduces dynamic profile studies of a male and female head, exaggerated into grotesque forms. Measuring just 4 3/16 x 6 5/8 inches on clipped paper, its intimate scale invites close inspection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ac...
About the Artist
Leonardo da Vinci|Anonymous, Netherlandish, 17th century|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...