Five Grotesque Heads
Gaetano Gandolfi · 1750–1800 · Cleveland Museum of Art
Guide
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From the museum
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. The term "grotesque" derives from the Italian word "grotteschi," which refers to the grottoes found in ancient Roman houses that were rediscovered around 1500.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- Gaetano Gandolfi (Italian, 1734–1802)
- Date
- 1750–1800
- Medium
- pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over black chalk
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 29.5 x 20.2 cm (11 5/8 x 7 15/16 in.)
- Place of origin
- Italy
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · Not on view
- Credit line
- Gift of Frederick M. Mayer
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0
