Profile Portrait of a Man

18th century

Profile Portrait of a Man, 18th century. Attributed to Louis Rolland Trinquesse (French, c. 1746–c. 1800). Black chalk counterproof; sheet: 20.3 x 17.5 cm (8 x 6 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2018.41 This portrait bust is a counterproof: the reverse image of a composition, made by placing blank paper on top of a drawing and transferring the design with pressure. Eighteenth-century artists frequently made counterproofs of their drawings to replicate their work. This process also enabled them to experience how their images would appear if they were reproduced as prints.