Head of a Bearded Man

Head of a Bearded Man

Giovanni Serodine

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here, the artist focused on the humble man's quiet dignity of character with a portrait-like precision. This monumental study in color is also striking for the immediacy of its brushwork, revealing Serodine's artistic roots in the naturalistic tradition of the region of Lombardy, in northwestern Italy. The present study is apparently the only work on paper by Giovanni Serodine, who was among the innovative Italian Baroque painters of religious genre scenes. Born in Rome of Lombard parents, Serodine was much influenced by Caravaggio (1571-1610), the brilliant master who also hailed from Lombardy, and who especially inspired a generation of painters working in Rome between 1610 and 1630.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of a Bearded ManHead of a Bearded ManHead of a Bearded ManHead of a Bearded ManHead of a Bearded Man

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.