A young man touching the cheek of a young woman

An engraving and etching by (1725-1800) 'A young man touching the cheek of a young woman' Plate numer III, from 'Icones ad vivum expressae' after Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Lettered within a printed border with the names of the artists and a dedication to Joseph Smith. Numbered below border: III. On watermarked paper.

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta produced a great number of these chalk drawings on blue paper of character heads, with one, two and sometimes three heads on the same sheet. His biographers (Albrizzi, Studij di pittura and Dezalier d'Argenville) noted that it was through the sale of these drawings that he was able to sustain his family, and he built up a strong reputation for them. The drawings were always intended to be framed and hung, the consequent exposure to daylight causing the paper to fade from blue to brown.

Although the models in some of these drawings have been identified (Piazzetta's wife, son and daughter appear several times), they are not intended as portraits of particular sitters. Instead they are often shown with accompanying attributes or with particular facial expressions, operating in the tradition of têtes d'expression. Often the meaning of the attributes is not overt, but the drawings are enigmatic ruminations on age, beauty, innocence and other timeless themes.

A set of 14 prints by Cattini after drawings by Piazzetta was first published in 1743 by the Pasquali Press as the Icones ad vivum Expressae [Images taken from Life]. The set was reissued in 1754, 1763 and 1767, though the final edition included only eight prints. Cattini trained with the influential Venetian engravers Giovanni Antonio Faldoni and Marco Alvise Pitteri, adopting their technique with little cross-hatching. Each print in the set was dedicated to a wealthy Venetian nobleman or collector: this one is dedicated to Smith himself. Some of the drawings were in Smith's own collection, though this one has not been traced.

All thirty-six of the Piazzetta heads in the Royal Collection, which were hanging at Buckingham Palace until the early twentieth century, must have been acquired as part of the collection of Consul Joseph Smith in 1762.