Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Upper Left 1634 - 1689

Ciro Ferri created this drawing, "Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Upper Left" in the 17th century, using black chalk heightened with white on blue paper. Ferri, as a prominent figure in the Roman Baroque art scene, lived in a world shaped by the Catholic Church's influence and the opulence of aristocratic patronage. The identity of the man is not known, but Ferri's study captures the dignity of the sitter, a mature man with a full head of hair and beard, looking to the upper left. The gaze evokes a sense of contemplation or perhaps a spiritual yearning. Ferri elevates the image of an everyday man, highlighting the intrinsic nobility of his subject. Baroque artists were frequently commissioned to create idealized images of mythological or biblical figures. Ferri here seeks to capture the psychological depth of the individual. The study offers us a moment to reflect on how we perceive and value different faces in our own contemporary world.