Provinciale Noordbrabantsche en 's-Hertogenbossche Courant 1927 no 089 Leonardo da Vinci Caricaturen

This drawing depicts five men with highly distorted and aged facial features, ranging from toothless smiles to a wide-mouthed scream. The central figure, crowned with a laurel wreath, maintains a stoic profile while surrounded by these vivid, grimacing characters. The work uses intricate cross-hatching to emphasize the deep wrinkles and anatomical irregularities of the subjects.

These 'grotesque heads' are part of Leonardo's systematic study of physiognomy and the 'moti mentali' (motions of the mind), reflecting the Renaissance belief that outward physical forms reveal internal character and the soul's state. This investigation into nature's 'errors' and extremes was a core component of his natural philosophy, seeking to categorize every facet of the human experience through observation.