Two Grotesque Heads
by MELZI, Francesco, Pen and brown ink, 54 x 99 mm
Francesco Melzi was Leonardo’s pupil and artistic heir. He worked as a painter, but he is primarily known today as a copyist of Leonardo’s drawings. He successfully emulated his teacher’s technique of tonal modeling in chalk and occasionally attempted to imitate Leonardo’s left-handing diagonal hatching. Such is the case with this pair of grotesque heads, which are copies after Leonardo. The drawing depicts an old woman with an elaborate headdress and a man with large ears.