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MICHELANGELO Buonarroti: Study of a Child’s Head (recto)

🖼 Study of a Child’s Head (recto), 1524-26
Black chalk
235 × 161 cm
Haarlem, Netherlands

Soft charcoal captures the tender vulnerability of childhood, with delicate shading modeling rounded cheeks and downturned gaze. Michelangelo's preparatory study reveals his obsessive anatomical precision applied even to fleeting human emotion, influencing Renaissance portraiture's psychological depth.

Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Frank Zöllner
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