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Head of a woman

Maker

(artist)
1547-1627

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1529-1592

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1488-1560

Title

Head of a woman

Date of Production

1580 - 1590

Medium

graphite, pen and ink (brown) on laid paper, with ink (brown) framing lines, laid down

Dimensions

Height: 30.6 cm
Width: 21.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4278

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Michelangelo’s large drawings of so-called ‘ideal heads’, first created in the 1520s as gifts for his friends, were widely imitated. This example is by the Veronese artist, Ligozzi, who became a painter at the Medici court in Florence in 1587. His delicately executed pen drawing shows the figure in profile, as was typical for Michelangelo’s ‘ideal heads’. It might have been conceived as an independent work of art but may also have served as a hairstyle design for court festivities or for the theatre. The extraordinarily refined headdress demonstrates Ligozzi’s concern for exquisite detail.

Provenance

Zwemmer Gallery (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Renaissance Modern, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/04/2015-07/06/2015

Narrative Folds (Pop-up exhibition), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/06/2013-01/06/2013

Special Display - Looking at Michelangelo, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 11/02/2010-06/06/2010

Inscriptions

Collector's mark: none.

Watermark: Recto: right of centre: a vertical word/name in a banderole - illegible through backing sheet. Backing sheet, Verso: lower centre: J WHATMAN.

Inscription: Verso (backing sheet): lower right, graphite: W323/21.

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