# Head of a Young Woman

**Albrecht Dürer** (German, 1471–1528)  
1522  
Black chalk highlighted with white chalk (abraded) on green prepared paper.  
7 7/8 x 5 15/16 in. (20 x 15.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.1.859. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459211).

## About this work

Albrecht Dürer drew this in 1522, aged 51. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Chalk.** Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.

### [Albrecht Dürer](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/albrecht-durer)

German, 1471–1528; born in Nuremberg; died in Nuremberg

Dürer trained as a goldsmith with his father and then under the Nuremberg painter Michael Wolgemut, whose studio produced woodcut book illustrations. Two journeys to Italy brought him into contact with Venetian painting and the theory of proportion, which he set out to bring north. He raised woodcut and engraving to new heights of detail and ambition, issuing his own series such as The Apocalypse and The Life of the Virgin, and his engraving Adam and Eve of 1504 shows his study of the ideal human figure.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawings
- The artist was 51
- Real size: about 8 × 6 in (20 × 15 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 16th century
- Subjects: Heads, Women
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1272.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1272/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/head-of-a-young-woman-met-459211).