These prints were intended to form part of a printed drawing manual that Jusepe de Ribera was planning to publish. Ribera’s remarkable accomplishments as an etcher are made evident in his control of line and shading.

While artists had long been accustomed to learning how to draw in front of plaster casts and live models, the introduction of printed guides illustrating component parts of the body such as mouths and ears established new standards for artmaking.