Study Of Two Heads, After French School Of The 17th Century Around 1630–1650.

Brown wash over black lines. Late print.
This print brings together, on the same plate, the head of a child and that of a young man, both rendered with supple modeling and a network of fine hatching that directly evokes Parisian practices of the first half of the 17th century. The gentleness of the transitions, the warmth of the tone, and the regularity of the curves recall the studio sheets from the circle of Simon Vouet, whose engraved compositions widely disseminated the types of heads used in his workshop. The pairing of two figures without narrative connection, one youthful, the other more mature, corresponds to a pedagogical or preparatory use, typical of plates intended for the study or circulation of models. The whole testifies to an aesthetic already distant from the Italian Renaissance pursuits, in favor of a French taste for calm idealization and clarity of rendering.

The print is presented under antique glass and set in a Louis XIV period Bérain frame.
Dimensions: 13.5 x 9 cm sheet – 19.5 x 15 cm with frame