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| Andrea del Sarto Head of a Woman ca. 1515 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola) Three Feminine Heads ca. 1522-24 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| workshop of Bartolomeo Passarotti Head of Woman with Fantastic Headdress ca. 1580 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| Abraham Bloemaert Two Female Heads ca. 1600-1610 drawing (studies for drawing manual) Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| attributed to Cavaliere d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari) Head of a Woman ca. 1610 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| Domenichino Head of a Sibyl ca. 1620 drawing (study for painting) Morgan Library, New York |
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| Philippe de Champaigne Head of a Woman ca. 1650 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| Antonio del Castillo Head of an Elderly Woman ca. 1650 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Isaac Fuller Young Woman with Pearl Necklace ca. 1660-70 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Anonymous Italian Artist after Carlo Maratti Head of a Woman ca. 1690 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| Jean-Antoine Watteau Head of a Woman ca. 1715 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Antoine Coypel Head of a Young Woman ca. 1715-17 drawing (study for painting) Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| Domenico Maggiotto Study of a Woman ca. 1760 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Carle Vanloo Head of a Woman 1764 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
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| Jean-Baptiste Greuze Head of a Young Woman (tête d'expression) ca. 1785 drawing Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| David Wilkie Head of a Young Woman (two studies) ca. 1810 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pierre-Jean David d'Angers Profile Portrait of George Sand 1833 drawing (study for sculpture) Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| Peter Slater Head of a Woman ca. 1835 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
My Last Dance
The shell of objects inwardly consumed
Will stand, till some convulsive wind awakes;
Such sense hath Fire to waste the heart of things,
Nature, such love to hold the form she makes.
Thus, wasted joys will show their early bloom,
Yet crumble at the breath of a caress;
The golden fruitage hides the scathèd bough,
Snatch it, thou scatterst wide its emptiness.
For pleasure bidden, I went forth last night
To where, thick hung, the festal torches gleamed;
Here were the flowers, the music, as of old,
Almost the very olden time it seemed.
For one with cheek unfaded (though he brings
My buried brothers to me, in his look)
Said, Will you dance? At the accustomed words
I gave my hand, the old position took.
Sound, gladsome measure! at whose bidding once
I felt the flush of pleasure to my brow,
While my soul shook the burthen of the flesh,
And in its young pride said, Lie lightly thou!
Then, like a gallant swimmer, flinging high
My breast against the golden waves of sound,
I rode the madd'ning tumult of the dance,
Mocking fatigue, that never could be found.
Chide not – it was not vanity, nor sense
(The brutish scorn such vaporous delight)
But Nature, cadencing her joy of strength
To the harmonious limits of her right.
She gave her impulse to the dancing Hours,
To winds that sweep, to stars that noiseless turn;
She marked the measure rapid hearts must keep
Devised each pace that glancing feet should learn.
And sure, that prodigal o'erflow of life,
Unvowed as yet to family or state,
Sweet sounds, white garments, flowery coronals
Make holy, in the pageant of our fate.
Sound, measure! but to stir my heart no more –
Sound, measure! but to stir my heart no more –
For, as I moved to join the dizzy race,
My youth fell from me; all its blooms were gone,
And others showed them, smiling in my face.
Faintly I met the shock of circling forms
Linked each to other, Fashion's galley-slaves,
Dream-wondering, like an unaccustomed ghost
That starts, surprised, to stumble over graves.
For graves were 'neath my feet, those placid masks
Smiled out upon my folly mournfully,
While all the host of the departed said,
"Tread lightly – thou art ashes, even as we."
– Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910)