Caricature of the head of a Roman Emperor

Details

Circle of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Caricature of the head of a Roman Emperor
black chalk, pen and brown ink on grey-brown paper, the lower left corner made up
3 3/8 x 2¼ in. (86 x 57 mm.)

Provenance

N. Hone (L. 2793).
Sir Joshua Reynolds (L. 2364).
A.C. de Poggi (L. 617).
An unidentified collector's mark (possibly L. 2064a).
Purchased from Botte, Paris, June 1962.

Literature

G. Nicodemi, L'Arte, XXVII, Milan, 1967, pp. 3-4 (as Leonardo da Vinci).
C. Pedretti, 'The price of ugliness: Snippets sold and bought', Bibliographia Vinciana, 9 (1996), p. 220, pl. 5 (as Follower of Leonardo).

Lot Essay

Although this drawing has traditionally been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, the strength of line suggests a Northern, possibly Flemish, hand. Leonardo's caricatures were known in Northern Europe through prints and contemporary copies, and particularly through drawings brought back by Rubens from Italy and from his studies of Leonardo's anatomical codices in the Royal Collection in Madrid, now in the Royal Library, Windsor. A sheet of studies with pen and ink caricatures by Rubens after Leonardo is in the Albertina, Vienna (photograph in the Witt Library, London).
Michael Kwakkelstein has suggested an attribution to Bartolommeo Passarotti.

More from MASTER DRAWINGS FROM THE MARTIN BODMER FOUNDATION

View All