Head of a Man
WAG 5085
Information
The drawing is remarkably close to the head of a second apostle from the left of a fresco of the Last Judgement painted for Santa Maria degli Angeli by Fra Bartolommeo.
It appears to have been damaged by overcleaning and to have been redrawn.
This is one of the artworks presented by the Liverpool Royal Institution. Liverpool’s economic development grew directly from Britain’s involvement with transatlantic slavery: the kidnapping, enslavement and forced migration of people from West Africa to the Americas and many to the Caribbean. Many members of the Royal Institution made their fortunes directly through the trade or indirectly through the wider economy. This wealth was largely how they were able to bring rare art and treasures, such as this, to the city.