Skizzenbuchblatt mit den Köpfen einer jungen Frau und von vier Männern sowie Skizze einer Stadtsilhouette c. 1497 - 1498

This sketchbook page with heads, by Gerard David, invites us into the artist's process of visual exploration. Executed in delicate lines, the composition focuses primarily on a young woman. She is positioned centrally, her gaze lowered, framed by soft, flowing hair and an ornate headpiece. The surrounding sketches of male figures and a cityscape, however, are less defined, creating a contrast between the detailed and the ephemeral. Here the interplay between presence and absence, precision and vagueness, opens up a field of possibilities. The artist uses a system of visual cues to present the female figure as the primary subject. The visible structure reveals a world where the artist is actively constructing and deconstructing images. David's approach may be seen as part of a larger cultural movement, that moves away from fixed, idealized forms. By emphasizing the process of creation and visual coding, the artist invites us to question the nature of representation itself.