Head of a Man in Profile (a Steward?)

This head study of a man in profile, possibly a Steward, in the Royal Collection dates to around 1697 and represents Ricci's practice of studying character types for potential use in narrative compositions. The profile view, recalling Renaissance portrait conventions, allows concentration on physiognomic character—the set of the jaw, the line of the nose, the expression of the eye visible in three-quarter turn. Ricci's rapid yet precise brushwork captures individual personality within a generalized type. The Royal Collection's holdings of such studies provide evidence of Ricci's working process and his engagement with the long Venetian tradition of figure study from life, stretching from Titian through Veronese to Tintoretto.

The profile is rendered with swift, assured brushstrokes that model the features with remarkable economy, the warm tones and fluid technique characteristic of Ricci's sketching practice.