Bust Portrait of a Young Man
1620/25
Simon Vouet French, 1590-1649
France
The Parisian Simon Vouet became one of the most influential artists of his generation. He went to Italy as a young man and worked in Caravaggio’s wake in Rome. This compelling depiction of a disheveled, nude young man (possibly a self-portrait) has an immediacy and a naturalism characteristic of the Baroque. The figure’s engaging gaze into our space draws us in.
Black and red chalk, with stumping, on tan laid paper