Large Grotesque Head

Large Grotesque Head

Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Famed for his treatment of grotesque subjects in painting, Ribera brought this vision to his printmaking as well. This etching from 1622 is one of only sixteen that can be attributed to the artist with certainty. He conceived this grotesque head, like his closely related etchings of eyes and ears, as exercises in physiognomy in the tradition of Leonardo. The faint traces of an eye (barely legible at the upper left side of the man's stocking cap) indicates that this print was produced from a reworked plate for the etching of eyes.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.