Study of a male head

This very sensitive study seems to have been modeled on life, although it is not certain that it served as a basis for a real portrait (it could also have been for a Saint George or Michael, for example, or perhaps a soldier, as the man appears to be wearing armor). 

Traditionally, the drawing was attributed to Veneto (around or even by Veronese), but it is more likely that our sheet was made in Florence. For example, there are connections with the style and iconography of some drawings by Agnolo Bronzino (cf. his portrait of Cosimo I de Medici in Armour). In any case, it seems reasonable to us to situate the drawing in Florence around the middle of the 16th century.

Black Chalck heightened with white, 224 x 163 mm