Head of Christ

William Page's pencil study presents a bearded male figure in three-quarter view, rendered with careful attention to facial anatomy and expression. The sketch employs fine cross-hatching and linear shading to model form, characteristic of 19th-century academic drawing practice. Page (1811–1885), an Albany-born painter active in New York, worked across portraiture, historical subjects, and religious themes. This study demonstrates the artist's engagement with classical figure drawing—a foundation essential to large-scale composition work. The inscription suggests this may be a preparatory study for a larger painting, reflecting the deliberate progression from sketch to finished work common in studio practice of the period.