Bust of a Young Man (recto)
by MICHELANGELO Buonarroti, Red chalk, 282 x 200 mm
This impressive portrait is one of Michelangelo’s few extant portrait drawings in which rather unattractive facial features are overstated, making them slightly bizarre in a portrayal that verges on a caricature. The intended purpose of the portrait, and the dating are subject of scholarly debate.
On the verso of the sheet, a man lifting a boar is drawn in red chalk.