34. after Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
etched by Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677)
Caricature Head of a Bald Man

(click on image to print)
after da Vinci, Caricature Head

Caricature Head of a Bald Man

Etching, 1645, from Caricature Heads after Leonardo, Parthey 1583, Pennington 1583 only state, 82 x 59 mm., ex collection: John Barnard (Lugt 1419). Fine impression on laid paper trimmed on or just inside the platemark, the image complete. Leonardo most probably never made a print himself, though one or two have been attributed to him in the past. He did, however, make drawings, many of them caricatural studies of heads, and Hollar’s group of etchings is based on those in a Leonardo volume that was then in the Arundel Collection in England. Some of the prints were issued first in 1645 with subsequent editions in 1648 and 1666, but many were done later and did not appear until the second or third edition. This impression has a distinguished provenance.