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Study of the Head of a Youth Gazing Upward

late 15th–early 16th century
Not on view
This study of a male head, seen from below in a foreshortening technique known in Italian as "di sotto in su" (meaning “from below, upward”), may have served as a preparatory study for a figure in a painting. The squaring of the sheet indicates that the figure was meant to be enlarged and transferred to a more elaborate composition. Similar types of upturned heads appear in numerous paintings by Perugino, his followers, and collaborators. It has been suggested that the drawing may be attributed to the young Luca Signorelli, who was a follower of Perugino and frequently produced heads of a similar physiognomic type and expressive quality. The facial features have been retouched with pen by a later hand, making them appear harsher than they were originally intended.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study of the Head of a Youth Gazing Upward
  • Artist: Workshop of Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci) (Italian, Città della Pieve, active by 1469–died 1523 Fontignano)
  • Date: late 15th–early 16th century
  • Medium: Black chalk; Squared in black chalk; eyes, nose, ears, mouth retouched with pen and brown ink.
  • Dimensions: 8 7/8 x 5 15/16 in. (22.6 x 15.1 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.394
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Landscape (recto); Landscape (verso), Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci) Italian, Brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, on gray-green prepared paper (recto); pen and brown ink on unprepared off-white paper (verso)
Landscape (recto); Landscape (verso)
Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci)
1489–90
Study of a Kneeling Youth and of the Head of Another, Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci) Italian, Metalpoint on pale pink-beige prepared paper
Study of a Kneeling Youth and of the Head of Another
Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci)
1500
Group of Warriors Standing, Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci) Italian, Tip of the brush and black ink, black wash, traces of black chalk, heightened with white, on dark brown tinted paper.
Group of Warriors Standing
Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci)
late 15th–early 16th century
Two Studies of a Standing Youth in Quattrocento Clothing (recto); a cardinal's hat on a fragmentary coat of arms with a griffin (the arms of the city of Perugia) (verso), Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci) Italian, Metalpoint on pinkish prepared paper; retouched by a later hand in pencil, particularly the figure at the right (recto); black chalk, over dots obtained by the pouncing of a model; partly retouched with brush and brown ink (verso)
Two Studies of a Standing Youth in Quattrocento Clothing (recto); a cardinal's hat on a fragmentary coat of arms with a griffin (the arms of the city of Perugia) (verso)
Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci)
ca. 1504
Saint John the Baptist; Saint Lucy, Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci) Italian, Oil(?) on wood
Saint John the Baptist; Saint Lucy
Perugino (Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci)

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