Profile Head of a Young Man c. 16th century

Curator: This red chalk drawing, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums, is titled "Profile Head of a Young Man," attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti. Editor: Wow, it feels so alive! There's something very immediate about the gaze and even the unfinished portions suggest motion. Curator: The red chalk itself lends a warmth, almost a flush to the skin, evoking classical ideals of beauty and youth which were so important to Renaissance artists. Note too the way the curls frame the face, a visual echo of ancient Roman sculpture. Editor: I also find the stark contrast between the detailed face and the suggested body quite interesting, it invites the imagination to fill in the rest. Curator: Indeed, such drawings served both as studies of the human form and as explorations of ideal beauty, which are concepts that resonated deeply through the ages. Editor: I hadn't thought about the connection between beauty and mortality, but I can see it so clearly now.