Head of Christ
1670
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1670
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This painting shows the head of Christ in a simple, yet detailed portrait. The artist used black chalk with white heightening on brown oatmeal paper to create this work. The use of white heightening adds a sense of depth and dimension to the portrait, which is interesting because it was a technique not commonly used at that time. The artist's use of shading and contrast is similar to the technique of chiaroscuro.