Head of a Youth Looking Up

c. 1485

Pinturicchio

Artist, Sienese, c. 1454 - 1513

The head and shoulders of a smooth-skinned boy are drawn with delicate brown and white lines against tan-colored, vertically oriented paper. The boy is angled to our left, and his head and large eyes are raised to gaze up and in that direction. He has a short nose over a small mouth with parted lips that reveal two teeth. Tightly packed vertical white strokes create a highlight on his forehead and more curve around his eyes and cheeks. His fine, shoulder-length hair is created with parallel, wavy strokes and topped by a round cap with an upturned brim. His garment is suggested by faint strokes of brown around the neck and right shoulder, and a line of faint, half moon-shaped buttons down his chest.

Media Options

Skip thumbnail navigation
Back to thumbnail navigation
This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    leadpoint and brown wash, heightened with white gouache on gray prepared paper; laid down

  • Credit Line

    Woodner Collection, Gift of Dian Woodner

  • Dimensions

    overall: 25.5 x 19.5 cm (10 1/16 x 7 11/16 in.)

  • Accession

    2017.111.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Antonio Maria Zanetti [1680-1757] (Lugt 2992f), Venice; Kupferstichkabinett, Darmstadt; Robert von Hirsch [1883-1977], Basel; (his estate sale, London, Sotheby's, 20 June 1978, no. 22); purchased by Ian Woodner, New York; by inheritance to his daughters, Andrea and Dian Woodner, New York, 1990; to Dian Woodner, New York; gift to NGA, 2017

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1983

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu and tour, 1983-85, no. 6 (as Umbrian School)(George Goldner).

1986

  • Dibujos de los siglos XIV al XX: Colección Woodner, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1986-87, no. 6 (as Perugino).

  • Meisterzeichnungen aus Sechs Jahrhunderten: Die Sammlung Ian Woodner, Haus der Kunst, Munich and Vienna, 1986, no. 5 (as Perugino or circle).

1987

  • Master Drawings: The Woodner Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1987, no. 5 (as Perugino).

1990

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, no. 6 (as Perugino).

1995

  • The Touch of the Artist: Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1995-1996, no. 12 (as attributed to Pinturicchio)(entry by Sylvia Ferino-Pagden).

2006

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2006 - 2007 (no cat.)

2017

  • The Woodner Collections: Master Drawings from Seven Centuries. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2017 (no cat.).

  • The Woodner Collections: Master Drawings from Seven Centuries, NGA, 2017.

Bibliography

1901

  • Schönbrunner, Josef, and Meder, Josef. Handzeichnungen alter Meister aus der Albertina und anderen Sammlungen.. 12 vols. Vienna, 1896-1908: 5 (1901): 552 (as Pinturicchio).

1917

  • Fischel, Oskar. Die Zeichnungen der Umbrer. Berlin, 1917: no. 111, fig. 278 (as Pinturicchio).

1928

  • Schrey, A.M.R., ed. Stift und Feder, Zeichnungen aller Zeiten und Länder in Nachbildungen. Frankfurt, 1928: no. 12 (as Pinturicchio).

1983

  • Matteson, Lynn R. "Old Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection." Pantheon. XLI (1983): 386-87 (as Umbrian School).

2007

  • Mason, Stefania. "Artisti collezionisti di disegni a Venezia tra Cinquecento e Settecento. Ipotesi di lavoro." In L'Artiste Collectionneur de Dessin II, De Giorgio Vasari à Aujourd'hui. (Rencontres internationales du Salon du Dessin, 21-22 mars 2007.) Milan, 2007: 63, 67 note 43, 205, fig. 10.

2008

  • La Malfa, Claudia. "Invenzioni, modelli e copie: Pintoricchio disegnatore e il rapporto con Perugino, la bottega umbra del primo Rinascimento e Raffaello." In exh. cat. Pintoricchio, Vittoria Garibaldi and Francesco Federico Mancini, eds., Perugia, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, and Spello, collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore. Milan, 2008, 351 (fig. 5), 356.

2018

  • Grasselli, Margaret Morgan. "Pinturicchio, Head of a Youth Looking Up." _National Gallery of Art Bulletin (Spring 2018): 21-22 (color).

Inscriptions

by (probably) Anton Maria Zanetti on mount, center verso in pen and brown ink: Ritratto di Raffaèle d'Urbino / Giovine. / fatto di sua propria / mano, / quando era in / Scola di Pietro Perugino / suo Maèstro.

Wikidata ID

Q64619699

You may be interested in

Loading Results