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V: A bearded man in profile, confronted by a grotesque profile

Leonardo da Vincic. 1492 to 1495

Royal Collection Trust, UK

Royal Collection Trust, UK
London, United Kingdom

The disdainful expression of the main figure is deflated by the rapidly sketched grotesque that gazes up at him from heavy-lidded bulging eyes. An opposition of types may have been intended to some degree - aquiline against snub nose, hideously long upper lip against tightly compact mouth - but this is not fully cogitated and cannot have been the main reason for drawing either figure. The addition of the grotesque was a simple visual joke, the work of no more than a few seconds.

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  • Title: V: A bearded man in profile, confronted by a grotesque profile
  • Creator: Leonardo da Vinci, 1492
  • Date Created: c. 1492 to 1495
  • Physical Dimensions: 17.2 x 12.4 cm
  • Provenance: Bequeathed to Francesco Melzi; from whose heirs purchased by Pompeo Leoni, c.1582-90; Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, by 1630; Probably acquired by Charles II; Royal Collection by 1690
  • Type: Prints & drawings
  • Rights: Supplied by Royal Collection Trust / (c) HM Queen Elizabeth II 2012
  • External Link: http://www.rct.uk/collection/912555
  • Medium: Pen and ink
Royal Collection Trust, UK

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