Five Grotesque Heads

1750–1800

Gaetano Gandolfi

(Italian, 1734–1802)

Culture

Italy, 18th century

Medium

pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over black chalk

Support

Cream(3) laid paper

Measurements

Sheet: 29.5 x 20.2 cm (11 5/8 x 7 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Frederick M. Mayer 1969.277

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The term "grotesque" derives from the Italian word "grotteschi," which refers to the grottoes found in ancient Roman houses that were rediscovered around 1500.

Description

From an early age, Gaetano Gandolfi was admired for his drawings, many of which were created as independent works of art and avidly collected by Italian and British patrons. This drawing is one of Gandolfi’s so-called teste pittoriche, or pictorial heads. Devised by the artist in the 1770s, this genre is based on contemporary academic theories that proposed that human emotions could be scientifically classified by facial expressions.