Search results

Start typing

This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
LEONARDO DA VINCI (VINCI 1452-AMBOISE 1519)

The head of Judas

c.1495

RCIN 912547

A study of the head and neck of a man, with the head slightly averted from the spectator, in profile to the right. He has a hooked nose, close-set lips and a strongly-modelled muscular neck. This is a study for the Judas in the Last Supper, refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. Leonardo did not conceive of Judas as facially repulsive, but subsequent copyists of the head and later restorers of the mural exaggerated the stereotypical semitic/criminal features of Judas to an increasingly grotesque degree, hooking his nose down almost to meet his chin. The head in this drawing registers mild surprise rather than evil intent. While the modelling is handled with great subtlety, the outlines of the profile may well have been strengthened by a later hand.

    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.