Head of a Young Woman c. 1880

This pencil sketch of a young woman's head is rendered by Paul Cézanne with remarkable tenderness. The motif of the head, especially in profile or turned slightly away, echoes through centuries of portraiture, from ancient coins to Renaissance medals. Consider the tradition of the 'portrait': a face frozen in time, meant to capture not just likeness but character, status, and perhaps, a touch of the eternal. Think of Roman portrait busts, their severe countenances projecting power and authority. Here, Cézanne softens that tradition. This is not a ruler or a dignitary but a young woman observed with gentle curiosity. The act of depicting a face carries a profound psychological weight, and it becomes a site of projection, where the artist, and later the viewer, invests their emotions and memories. This is the persistence of the past—a constant return of the human image, filtered through changing eyes and sensibilities.