Head of a Man in a Fur Cap, crying out

This tiny etching is one of a few plates from 1629-1630 which treat the contorted expression of a man in the act of shouting, including Man crying out, three-quarters left: Bust (see lot 76), Self-portrait with mouth open as if shouting (B. 13; New Holl. 5), and Beggar seated on a bank (B. 174; New Holl. 109).
It is executed quickly and with great economy, with broad, heavily bitten lines delineating the contours of the facial features and shoulders, and the right edge of the cap suggested with short, staccato-like strokes. The small scale of the plate and the presence of rough plate edges in the first state suggests that it was probably part of a larger sheet of studies, and cut down to the present miniature format.