1509
charcoal
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Study of a Bearded Man [verso] is a 1509 charcoal by Hans Holbein the Elder, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This is a close-up drawing of a bearded man’s face. His eyes are sharp and focused, but his mouth is slightly open, as if he’s about to speak. The hair and beard are drawn with quick, sketchy lines, giving them a rough texture. The artist used a silverpoint tool—it looks like they scratched into the paper with a metal stylus. This left faint gray lines that stand out against the white background. Next, check out the technique: cross-hatching to see how artists build up tone with layers of lines.
Hans Holbein the Elder (c. 1460/65 – 1524) was a German painter of the early German Renaissance. He was the father of painters Ambrosius and Hans the Younger.
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