1768
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Head of Caracalla is a 1768 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows the head of Caracalla, a Roman emperor. It's a close-up of his face, with a strong expression. The artist likely used this study to practice drawing different emotions. The face is based on a Roman portrait bust, but the artist changed the expression. This was a common practice for French artists at the time, who drew heads to show emotions. They wanted to show how people felt in different situations. You can see more works like this by visiting the museum that houses this piece, The Cleveland Museum of Art.
As part of their training in the late 18th century, French artists practiced drawing têtes d'expression, or expressive heads, that display subtleties of human emotion. Greuze made this chalk study in preparation for a painting in which the Roman emperor Septimius Severus rebukes his notoriously ruthless son, Caracalla, for attempting to assassinate him. Although Greuze based this face for the figure of Caracalla on a Roman portrait bust, he imaginatively adapted the facial expression to dramatize Caracalla’s resentment and humiliation during the confrontation.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French pronunciation: , 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting.
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