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The Head of a Young Woman

1605-1680
Not on view
When this study of a young woman with downcast eyes and loosely flowing tresses entered the Museum's collection more than a century ago, it was considered to be by an artist active in Rome in the seventeenth century, but later opinions have inclined toward the Procaccini family of artists active in Bologna and Milan. One suggested attribution has been to Giulio Cesare Procaccini (Bologna 1574-1625 Milan). More likely this is a work by his nephew, Ercole Procaccini The Younger (or Ercole III Procaccini), as proposed by Nicolas Swed (8/17/2026). Giulio Cesare invented an often recognizable female type, as we see in the physiognomy of this young woman with averted gaze and smiling with serene sweetness. His nephew Ercole often emulated this figural style while drawing with a looser, more pictorial treatment of the red chalk.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Head of a Young Woman
  • Artist: Ercole Procaccini The Younger (Italian, Milan 1605-1680 Milan)
  • Date: 1605-1680
  • Medium: Red chalk
  • Dimensions: 8-5/8 x 6-1/4 in. (21.9 x 15.9 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
  • Object Number: 80.3.90
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown and black ink on light brown laid paper
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Landscape with Architectural Structure, Ercole Procaccini The Younger Italian, Red chalk highlighted with white gouache on light brown paper; reworked counterproof
Landscape with Architectural Structure
Ercole Procaccini The Younger
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