Knabenkopf nach rechts geneigt

Knabenkopf nach rechts geneigt (Boy's Head Tilted Right), companion study to the left-tilted version, forms part of Dürer's systematic investigation of the human head in different positions and lighting conditions. These studies reflect the theoretical dimension of his art: the investigation of how the human face appears under different conditions of pose and illumination as preparation for a general theory of representation. As a pair, the two boy's heads demonstrate the effect of reversing the pose and varying the light, the same face becoming a different pictorial problem in each position. Dürer's theoretical ambitions — to derive universal principles from particular observations — are evident even in these small, apparently simple studies.

The oil-on-panel technique employs subtle chiaroscuro to model the boy's soft features, with characteristically precise Düreresque attention to individual strands of hair and the play of light across the skin.