Joseph Henry of Straffan, Co. Kildare
Pier Leone Ghezzi
1744–51 · Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk · Drawings and Prints
After inheriting a fortune from his banker father in 1741, Joseph Henry made two trips to Italy to study and collect art. His apparent youth in this caricature suggests that Ghezzi drew it during the Irishman’s first trip of 1744-45, but it could date to his second visit of 1750-51. While still a young man Henry became a serious scholar determined to become a recognized connoisseur. Ghezzi shows him earnestly consulting a guidebook titled Roma Antiqua while standing among broken columns, with a truncated obelisk and other ruins in the distance. An inscription in the artist’s hand at the bottom of the sheet archly describes the subject as: "huomo erudito nelle Antichità e in Letteratura" (a man very learned in the antique and literature). The drawing displays Ghezzi’s distinct draftsmanship, characterized by parallel pen strokes, with contours closed only around the face.
- Artist
- Pier Leone Ghezzi
- Date
- 1744–51
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Rogers Fund, 1973
