Head of the Madonna
Primary
Circle of Giovanni Bellini
(Venice, Italy, 1425/1430–1516)
NationalityItalian, Europe
Datecirca 1480s
MediumPen and brown ink with brush and brown wash on cream antique laid paper, laid down on cream antique laid paper (18th century [?]), laid down again on modern antique laid card
DimensionsSheet: 1 3/4 × 1 1/4 in. (4.5 × 3.1 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Suida-Manning Collection, 2017.902
Keywords
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number2017.902
On View
Not on viewWhile it has received no scholarly attention, this is a drawing of considerable quality and interest. Especially on such a diminutive scale, the regularity, monumentality, and dignity of its motif are striking. In basic shape, particular features, even personality, the head corresponds to a type employed by Gio-vani Bellini from the 1480s. On the other hand, while the drawing’s materials and technique are of the era, its description seems a bit facile and its contour in-sufficiently felt. If not by the hand of the greatest Venetian master of the early Renaissance, the drawing must be the work of a close follower.
Exhibitions
