Getty Museum

Head of a Female Figure (recto); Female Nude (verso)

Date

about 1610

Medium

Black and white chalk

Culture

Italian

Department

Drawings

Institution

Getty Museum

Giulio Cesare Procaccini depicted the head of a woman whose gentle expression suggests the epitome of feminine gracefulness. He first drew her facial features with black chalk, then gently rubbed the chalk for added softness in some places. Next he rapidly sketched in her hair. He added broad strokes of white chalk to give her hair greater luminosity. Additional subtle white chalk provides highlights on her skin, whose tone is largely carried by the brown paper. His grace and soft technique follow in the tradition established by Correggio. On the verso, Procaccini modeled a smooth female torso that suggests the coolness and idealism of sculpture. Trained as a sculptor himself, Procaccini used his experience to render three dimensions on paper. A later owner of the drawing, who may have wanted to create a more pleasing frame for the study on the recto, probably cut down the sheet, removing the figure's head. Headless, the body even more emphatically recalls fragments of classical sculpture.

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