There are only very few drawings – and only of her son Hans – that show him in the characteristic poses of official portraits in three-quarter profile or frontal view, as in this image.
In 1907, Käthe Kollwitz spent a few months in Italy after being awarded the Villa Romana Prize and was visited there in the summer by Hans. This pencil drawing with its spontaneous style shows the 15-year-old son with a slightly dreamy expression and a sunburnt nose.
