Head of a bearded man
First quarter of the XVII century. Pencil, Grey-brown ink on yellow paper.Not on display
The drawing was in the collections of Brun (?) and Fernández Durán´s as Passerotti (1529-1592), from whose style it is however rather different. A pencil attribution to Brizio on the reverse of the mount seems nearer the mark. The cross hatching done with a fine nib indeed suggests Brizio´s dry method of drawing, however the quality is not good enough for this to be anything other than the work of a follower.
Turner, Nicholas, From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Chicago, Art Services International, 2008, p.221
