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As part of their training in the late 18th century, French artists practiced drawing <em>têtes d'expression,</em> or expressive heads, that display subtleties of human emotion. Greuze made this chalk study in preparation for a painting in which the Roman emperor Septimius Severus rebukes his notoriously ruthless son, Caracalla, for attempting to assassinate him. Although Greuze based this face for the figure of Caracalla on a Roman portrait bust, he imaginatively adapted the facial expression to dramatize Caracalla’s resentment and humiliation during the confrontation.</div>
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Jean-Baptiste Greuze</div>
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