The Head of an Old Woman
Genoa, the 1620s
Oil on canvas
This startling image is a study of old age made from a model, rather than being a commissioned portrait.
Such character studies were occasionally painted by artists as the basis for biblical or mythological subjects which included old people. Strozzi painted this work in Genoa before his move to Venice where he had a successful career as a portraitist and a painter of mythological and religious subjects.
Purchased 1966 (No.66.8)
