Hoofd van vrouw, in profiel naar links 1620 - 1647

Curator: Here we have "Head of a Woman, in Profile to the Left," a pencil drawing rendered by Stefano della Bella, sometime between 1620 and 1647. Editor: It’s elegant. Austere, almost. The delicacy of line suggests a very private moment. Does it feel intimate to you? Curator: Very much so. This drawing is an interesting object of baroque portraiture; it captures something of the internal world using a classically inspired profile. Editor: The profile! Instantly linking her back to antiquity, to coins and cameos of powerful figures. It also reduces her to type, though. Her personality is… obscured. Curator: Precisely! Della Bella isn't just interested in likeness. I feel he's trying to capture a kind of timeless beauty, something that transcends the individual. See how he meticulously renders the hair? It's less about her specific hairstyle and more about texture, form, a sense of controlled chaos. Editor: The hair does seem symbolic; an overflowing cornucopia that suggests fecundity or maybe vanity… a classical ideal married to sensuality. Curator: Her severe gaze definitely brings something grounded; it lends her presence on the page. She becomes something other than a simple ideal; instead, someone contemplating her reality. It's there even though we are looking at the back of her head. Editor: Agreed. And the rough, aged quality of the paper enhances that sense. It adds layers of meaning: Time passing, beauty enduring… It elevates what might otherwise be a simple sketch. Curator: For me, the brilliance of it lies in that contrast: the idealized form brought down to earth by the very materials it's created with, it's an illusion with its heart worn out of its sleeve, somehow. Editor: It seems to humanize the ancient; or elevate the commonplace to that level. Very skillful!