Head of an old man.

Head of an Old Man from 1630 by Pietro da Cortona is a study by the leading Roman Baroque painter and architect. Cortona was responsible for some of the most spectacular ceiling paintings of the Baroque era, including the Barberini ceiling in Rome. Cortona was the supreme master of Roman High Baroque decoration, whose ceiling fresco for the Gran Salone of the Barberini Palace (1633–39) defined the illusionistic ceiling painting that dominated European decorative art for a century. His altarpi...

The head study demonstrates Cortona's fluid Baroque brushwork and mastery of characterful facial modeling, likely a preparatory study for a larger composition.