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ONLINECOLLECTION

Study of a Female Head, n. d.

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Leopold Museum,
Vienna
recto: India ink on paper, verso: India ink on paper
28.5×19 cm

Artists

  • Friedrich von Amerling

    (Vienna 1803–1887 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
Friedrich von Amerling (1803–1887), an important portrait painter of the Viennese Biedermeier, made several travels to Italy. His Study of a Female Head shows a handwritten note at the left top that speaks of a three-week stay in Rome. The note was put there in India ink, as was the drawing itself, while the date “1838” (the year of his stay in Rome) was presumably added later and in pencil. Amerling was interested in the profile of a girl looking to the right with her mouth opened, who he contoured her with a sharply drawn outline. He then used hatching to work out the sculptural qualities of the face, while leaving the rest of the head away. On the back of the sheet, another drawing of a female face can be found, only now it is depicted looking to the left in a three-quarter view. But it is only the front side that shows the portrait artist’s interest in the clear-cut contour that defines the first impression of a profile view.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Friedrich von Amerling
Title
Study of a Female Head
Alternative title
Verso: Head
Date
n. d.
Art movement
Biedermeier
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
recto: India ink on paper, verso: India ink on paper
Dimensions
28.5×19 cm
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 2593
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (o.D.);
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994)

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