Head of an elderly mourning woman in profile

This intriguing Head of an elderly mourning woman in profile comes from the renowned Dubini Hoepli Collection in Milano and appeared on the art marked in the late 1970s with an attribution to the Lombard painter Daniele Crespi (1597/1600-1630). Even if the technique appears distant from Crespi’s distinctive use of chalk, the suggestion may find a reason for being in the presence of very similar, expressive heads of elderly women in profile in some of the paintings by the master: see, e. g., the Birth of the Virgin in Gallarate (Museo della basilica di Santa Maria Assunta), the San Giovanni Battista in Milano (chiesa di Sant’Alessandro) or the Salome passed in 2001 on the art market.

The taste for exaggerated mimicry, close to the world of mockery or caricature, may in fact recall the Lombard tradition of Leonardo’s caricatures. During the 16th, 17th and even 18th century, however, the interest in this subject was strong in other centres such as Naples (Ribera’s caricatures) and Bologna, as evidenced by the so-called Head of Seneca sculpted by Guido Reni in 1600-1603 (Roma, Palazzo Venezia) and sketched by generations of scholars and other masters (figg. 1, 2).

The reference to the Seneca is not casual. The strong chiaroscuro hatching on the left of the drawing, theinsisted contour line of the profile, the lightening in white chalk and the empty eyes suggest that this drawing was derived not from an actual person, but from a sculpture, possibly a bronze or a terracotta inspired by the late-Antique popular representations of elderly women. Striking similarities can be found, for example, in the later type of the so called Bust of a Fate in Edinburgh and Budapest (The National Galleries of Scotland / Museum of Fine Arts), once attributed to Antonio Montauti and now referred to a 18th century Italian artist.

This life-size drawing, masterly executed by a skilled hand, impresses the observer with the strenght of the expression and the quality of the execution. Comparison with the drawings after Reni’s Seneca may suggest a Bolognese, 17th century enviroment for it – a hypotesis that for now must necessarily remain open.