A curly-haired boy sketches at a desk beside a marble bust of a heavy-jawed man in a toga, in a grey mezzotint.

Boy Drawing a Bust of the Roman Emperor Vitellius

A curly-haired boy in a long tunic sits on a stool, drawing on an open sheet propped on a board, while a classical bust of a heavy-jawed man in a draped cloak looks on at right. Scattered on the floor are a scroll, an inkwell and rolled papers, all rendered in soft brown-grey tones of mezzotint.

Look closer: A small inkwell and scattered quills lie on the floor at the lower left.

Artist: Wallerant Vaillant
Date: ca. 1665–75
Medium: Mezzotint printed in brown ink; first state of two
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Size: 3243 × 4000 px

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Public domain · The Metropolitan Museum of Art releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1680).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (The Met Open Access, isPublicDomain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Arthur Sachs, 1918

17th century engraving print old master print bust mezzotint brown ink academic study classical bust wallerant vaillant