Head of a Woman

Michelangelo Buonarroti (after)

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Michelangelo. The drawing is in red chalk, and is of the head of a woman. She is shown from the back, but her head is twisted to face towards the viewer. She has a strong chin, and is looking downwards. The woman is wearing a hat which peaks at the front, and an earring is dangling from her ear. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "2. MICHELANGELO (b. 1475; d. 1564) HEAD OF A WOMAN Oxford, Ashmolean Museum. Presented to the University by a Body of Subscribers, 1846. From the Casa Buonarroti, Wicar and Lawrence Collections. Red chalk. 20.4 x 16.3 cm. (8 x 6 1/2 in.). This noble profile is deservedly among the most famous of Michelangelo's drawings. The majestically poised head with its proud mouth, traced with matchless distinction and refinement in the frailest of mediums, is the embodiment of the artist's vision of ideal womanhood. The sketch, which is in the master's earlier manner, is on the analogy of types appearing among the decorative figures of the Sistine ceiling conjecturally assigned by Mr. Berenson to the year 1508. Old copies of the drawing exist in the Ashmolean Museum and in the Uffizi. A. G. B. R. [J. C. Robinson, Critical Account of the Drawings by Michelangelo and Raffaello in the University Galleries, Oxford, 1870, P. 11, No. 10; Berenson, 1552.]"