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Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

National Gallery of Art

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Through September 5

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    America’s 250th

    Celebrating American art and artists

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Support
  • Shop
  • Become a Member

  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Food and Drink
    • Tours and Guides
    • Explore the Campus

    Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Sculpture Garden Extended Hours

    Open late until 8:00 p.m. on select nights

    Through September 5

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    America’s 250th

    Celebrating American art and artists

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Fun and Games
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Open Call

    Artists Reimagining the Collection

    Meet the 50 makers selected from more than 1,600 submissions

Utility

  • Support
  • Shop
  • Become a Member

Directions

  • Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
  • See extended hours

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    1. Home
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    3. Francesco Melzi

    Francesco Melzi

    Italian, 1493 - c. 1570

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    Artwork

    An older man and woman with exaggerated facial features are shown from the chest up as they face each other in profile in this horizontal drawing on tan paper. To our left, the woman has a protruding, deeply wrinkled face with a blunt nose, squinting eyes, and a dramatically downturned mouth. Loose folds of skin sag down her neck and chest. She wears a C-shaped headdress with a loosely drawn veil hanging down the back. A delicate flower sticks out of the ample, wrinkled decolletage encased in her low-cut bodice. The man opposite her has deep-set eyes over a long, hooked nose and a lumpy, potato-like chin jutting out from his craggy face. His hair is covered by a headdress with a padded brim. A long scarf drapes over his head and across his chest. His shoulders and back are suggested by a few short pen strokes.
    Francesco Melzi, Two Grotesque Heads, 1510s?, pen and brown ink, Gift of Mrs. Edward Fowles, 1980.63.1

    Two Grotesque Heads

    Two Grotesque Heads

    Francesco Melzi · 1510s? · pen and brown ink ·  Accession ID  1980.63.1

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    Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
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      6th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

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      4th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

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      7th St and Constitution Ave NW
      Washington, DC 20565

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