This drawing of a screaming child is an early realistic study of emotions. Grünewald heightened to the extreme this depiction of unbearable pain or dramatic suffering of the soul. In a violent motion, the child throws his head back. We are looking straight into the darkness of his wide-open mouth. Grünewald accordingly rendered the upper part of his face, with eyes firmly closed and forehead emotionally furrowed, in extreme foreshortening. The execution of the drawing is simple but very delicate. Shading by stumping combined with a little wispy hatching underscores the impression of a slightly swollen epidermis on the neck and cheeks. Connections to the types of physiognomy of the angels of the Isenheim Altarpiece cannot be ruled out.
Details