Charles Dauphin (attributed to) (1615 - 1677) - Profile of Emanuele Tesauro 1660 - 1663 Blood on laid paper 17 x 14 cm The sheet depicts the Piedmontese man of letters and historian Emanuele Tesauro (1592-1675), represented half-length within an architectural medallion of illusionistic design. The face, slightly rotated to the right, is characterised by a penetrating psychological introspection; the physiognomic features, thin moustache, pointed beard and watchful gaze, are constructed through dense and modulated hatching, with skilful chiaroscuro passages that give plastic relief to the complexion.The oval frame inserted in an architectural structure gives the portrait a celebratory tone, consistent with the figurative culture of Turin at the height of the 17th century and with the editorial practice of the time, which frequently translated into engravings drawn models destined for the printed diffusion of the effigy of eminent personalities.The laid paper has a watermark that can be traced back to 17th-century Piedmontese paper production, an element that reinforces the geographical setting in the Turin area. The quality of the support and the executive certainty of the sign indicate an expert hand, accustomed to rendering portraits and defining models for the engraving translation.The drawing is here attributed to Charles Dauphin, a French painter active in Turin from 1656 and part of the Savoy artistic context. The attribution is based on stylistic affinities in the rendering of the volumes and the expressive intensity of the face, as well as on art-historical considerations regarding the relationship between painting circles and engraving production in Turin in the 1660s. It is proposed that the sheet can be identified as the preparatory model from which the engraving made in 1663 was taken: the close compositional correspondences in the bust, the rotation of the head, the structure of the medallion and the arrangement of the inscription suggest a direct relationship of derivation. From this perspective, the drawing would assume a central role in the conception process of the engraved image, taking the form of an official prototype destined for translation onto a plate and subsequent dissemination in print. Within the frame.