Head of an Old Man in Profile
Jacques Louis David
c. 1791 or 1816–1820
Medium
Black chalk, on bluish-white laid paper, laid down on tan wove card
Dimensions
23 × 23.1 cm (9 1/16 × 9 1/8 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
11892
Rights
Public Domain
About the Artist
Jacques Louis David · 1748–1825
Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), born in Paris on August 30 to a prosperous family, faced early tragedy when his father was killed in a duel around age nine. Raised by his mother's two architect uncles after his mother departed, David overcame family resistance to architecture and a facial tumor that hindered his speech and studies at the Collège des Quatre-Nations. He began training under the Roc...