Like the inscription on the drawing David and Goliath (inv. no. 38509, cat. no. 22), this drawing-previously ascribed to Francisco de Herrera the Younger by Jonathan Brown (1975) —also has the comment “de mi mano” (“by my hand"). Despite the differences in some of the letters (de, a, and y), Benito Navarrete Prieto and Fuensanta García de la Torre consider it an autograph. They find the hatchings typical of Castillo's drawings from around 1650.
The fact that both the drawing and the inscription are incomplete indicates that it comes from a larger sheet that was later cropped, presumably one with multiple head studies.

Jens Hoffmann-Samland

Details about this work

• Label

  Beschriftung: Unten bezeichnet: "Alias / de mi mano" (Feder in Schwarz)

• Provenance

  [José Atanasio Echeverría]; Julian Benjamin Williams, Seville (d. 1866); John Wetherell (?) (d. 1865); Horatio/Nathan Wetherell (?) (until 1874); Frederick William Cosens, London (from 1874 to 1890); Sotheby's, London, auction of the property of Frederick William Cosens (from November 11 to 21, 1890); Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London (from November 1890 to July 1891); acquired by the Hamburger Kunsthalle (July 14, 1891).

• Bibliography

  Drawings by Herrera the Younger and a Follower, Jonathan Brown, 1975, S. 238, Abb. S. pl. 6a, Abb.-Nr. , Kat.-Nr. 6

  Antonio del Castillo, 1616-1668, Dibujos, Catálogo Razonado, Benito Navarrete Prieto, Fuensanta García de la Torre; Herausgeber: Fundacción Marcelino Botín, 2008, S. 460-461, Abb., Abb.-Nr. , Kat.-Nr. 127

  The Spanish Gesture. Drawings from Murillo to Goya in the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Jens Hoffmann-Samland, with contributions by María Cruz de Carlos Varona, Gabriele Finaldi, José Manuel Matilla u. a., 2014, S. 76-77, Abb., 192, Abb.-Nr. , Kat.-Nr. 23

  Spanische Zeichnungen von El Greco bis Goya, Wolf Stubbe; Hamburger Kunsthalle, 1966, Abb.-Nr. , Kat.-Nr. 82

  The Drawings of Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra, Priscilla E. Muller; Herausgeber: Institute of Fine Arts, New York, New York University. Ann Harbor, 1963, S. 261, Abb. S. 90, Abb.-Nr. , Kat.-Nr. 124