Historical Portrait Drawings

A collection of diverse portraits showcasing bearded heads, religious figures, and individuals in historical attire, rendered in pencil and ink with a classic style.

Head of an Old Man in Profile, Facing Right, 1774-1789, Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine, Polish, (born France), 1745-1830, 2 1/8 x 1 11/16 in. (5.4 x 4.35 cm) (image)2 13/16 x 2 7/16 in. (7.2 x 6.2 cm) (sheet), Etching and engraving on woven Japan, Poland, 18th century, Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine was a French painter and printmaker active in Poland in the late 18th century. Norblin's charming miniature etchings, representing mostly male heads, street sellers, and vagabonds, reflect both in subject and technique the profound influence of Rembrandt's prints. Norblin was also drawn to Polish subjects, capturing the unfamiliar, exotic world around him in his depictions of men with colossal fur hats and curled moustaches, Cossacks, and Polish historical figures.

$Bust of an apostle in profile to the right Heads of apostles (series title), Bust of an apostle in profile to the right, with his head bent down a fraction. This print is part of a seven-part series on various apostles., (Single) apostle, unspecified, Theodorus van Kessel, 1630 - 1660, paper, engraving, h 110 mm × w 97 mm$