Head of a Bearded Man Looking Down by Cesare Rossetti

Head of a Bearded Man Looking Down 16th-17th century

drawing, red-chalk

drawing

amateur sketch

toned paper

light pencil work

red-chalk

pencil sketch

personal sketchbook

underpainting

detailed observational sketch

watercolour illustration

italy

sketchbook art

watercolor

"Head of a Bearded Man Looking Down" is a 16th-17th century red chalk drawing by Cesare Rossetti. The piece, housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, depicts a close-up portrait of a bearded man. His face is obscured, with his gaze directed downwards, adding a sense of introspective contemplation to the work. Rossetti's skill in rendering form and texture is evident in the delicate hatching and shading, creating a sense of depth and volume in the man's features. The artwork serves as a testament to Rossetti's mastery of drawing, showcasing his ability to capture the essence of his subject with precision and sensitivity.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

⋮

This album page, with a group of chalk studies, was put together some time in the 17th century, most likely in Italy judging from the paper. It comes from a larger album that was broken up in the late 1970s and sold at auction. At this sale, four of the studies from this sheet had already been removed, where there are traces of pink adhesive. The album contained many drawings by the great Roman master, the Cavaliere d'Arpino, suggesting that the drawings were collected and brought together by one of Arpino's students. Here the study of the bearded man and the veiled young woman were accepted as autograph works of Arpino the art historian Herwarth Röttgen, one specialist of the artist. Another Arpino expert, Marco Bolzoni, instead recently attributed those two studies to Cesare Rossetti, a member of Arpino's shop.