Carracci's Drawing

A certain impression of photographic effect is mitigated by the observance of the outline that defines the profile of the boy's face. So it is a drawing after all but what prodigious handiwork! The rendering is so fine that we feel we can speak to the boy. The drawing pulses. I was lucky enough to see the original at an exhibition of the work of Annibale Carracci, last May, at the Chiostro di Bramante in Rome. There was a room at the show dedicated to his drawings.

Why was this drawing made? Why make such an accurate study of someone's head? We may surmise he did it as a purely physical study in order to improve his technique and if it were so, the artistic intent may well have been purely practical but yet we are absorbed into the boy's character. The boy's profile is striking. His mouth is in an expressionless repose and yet the large eye contains a certain curiosity. The boy is alive!