LEONARDO da Vinci
(b. 1452, Vinci, d. 1519, Cloux, near Amboise)

Caricature of an Old Woman

1485-90
Pen and brown ink, 57 x 42 mm
British Museum, London

The comic intent of this type of representations is obvious. At the root of these drawings lie Leonardo's curiosity about unusual faces and features, his interest in the variety of types of expression and his physiognomic investigations of old age.