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Head and shoulders of a child

Maker

Maso Finiguerra (artist)
1426-1464

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1431-1498

Title

Date of Production

1459 - 1464

Medium

pen and brown ink, brown wash, leadpoint on laid paper, cut into an arch-like shape

Dimensions

Height: 7 cm
Width: 7.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1957.WF.4658

Mode of Acquisition

Witt Fund, purchase, 1957 (December)

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Maso Finiguerra was a Florentine goldsmith, intarsia designer, and printmaker. A prolific draughtsman, he created numerous figure studies to explore motifs in preparation for his prints. This drawing shows a three-quarter view of the head and shoulders of a child. It presents stylistic affinities with three sketches of a similar subject at the Uffizi (inv. nos. 57F, 60F, and 62F). The most striking difference among these works is the omission of the child’s pupils in The Courtauld’s drawing. Their omission may reflect a more advanced stage of the creative process. Alternatively, Finiguerra may have intended to portray a figure looking upwards. 

Provenance

Pelli-Fabbroni Collection, Florence, probably late 18th century; from where acquired by Leo Planiscig (1887-1952), 1946; De Sanctis, Geneva; his sale, W.S. Kundig in collaboration with Dr E. Aeschlimann, Libraria Hoepli, Milan, 22 November 1947; purchased there by Dr E. Aeschlimann; purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 16 July 1948; purchased there by The Courtauld Gallery via the Witt Fund, 3 December 1957, for £65

Literature

Melli, Lorenza, Maso Finiguerra: i disegni, Florence, 1995
no. 141
fig. 157
Maso Finiguerra

Kubiak, Richard Joseph, 'Maso Finiguerra', PhD thesis, University of Virginia, 1974
p. 184
Maso Finiguerra?

Degenhart, Bernhard and Annegrit Schmitt, Corpus der italienischen Zeichnungen 1300-1450, Berlin 1968
I-2, fig. 863
circle of Finiguerra but attribution unknown

Inscriptions

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: none.

Watermark: none.

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