Head of a Man

Antonio d'Enrico Tanzio (Tanzio da Varallo)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Lombard artist known as Tanzio da Varallo developed a bold, personal style based on his training in his father’s workshop and his exposure to the works of Caravaggio (1571–1610) in Rome. This striking study in red chalk seems to be preparatory for one of the shepherds in Tanzio’s fresco of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, in Milan, a project that dates to the artist’s final years. The man’s pronounced nose, patchy facial hair, and angular features are captured with an immediacy typical of Tanzio’s draftsmanship. The upper portion of the sheet includes a sketch of the man’s eyes and furrowed brow, while the lower left includes a more schematic outline study of the figure’s chin and neck.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art