Plate 4: Head of a Woman in Profile, from 'Second collection of various doodles and etching proofs' (Second recueil de divers griffonnements et preuves d'eauforte) 1641 - 1651

Stefano della Bella made this etching of a woman's head in the mid-seventeenth century. It is one of several studies of heads and faces. These were produced at a time when European art academies, such as the French Académie Royale, were standardizing artistic training. Consider the status of drawing within the academy: it was the cornerstone of the academic method, and this explains the proliferation of prints such as these. They would have been circulated among artists and students to study facial expression, and anatomy. Note the idealization of the woman's features, enclosed within a circle; this echoes classical traditions, but also the way that the academy codified beauty as a series of rules and proportions. To truly understand an image like this, one must consider its role in the history of art education. Resources such as archival documents of the Académie Royale, and collections of model books, are invaluable in this kind of research. In this way we can better appreciate the social and institutional contexts that shape the production and consumption of art.