A pencil portrait of exceptional rarity in the collection — a man caught in laughter, his mouth open, his eyes creased, his expression one of full, unself-conscious amusement. This is the most joyful face Sidney ever drew. In a collection that ranges from grief (Woe, 507) to wariness (Bald Man, 1044) to tenderness (Sleeping Man, 1024), this laughing face is the counterweight to all of it: pure delight.
The laughter is described with anatomical honesty: the mouth open, the lower teeth visible, the upper lip raised, the cheek muscles engaged, the brow slightly raised. This is not a polite smile but genuine mirth. The curly hair above the laughing face adds to the informal, spontaneous quality.
The pencil is handled with the tonal confidence of the most accomplished portraits: shadow at the eye socket, at the cheek below the laugh lines, under the chin. The face has real three-dimensionality despite the exuberant expression.
At the collar below, a buttoned shirt is described with specific button marks. The shirt and the laughing face together — ordinary clothes, extraordinary expression — create the portrait's fundamental human quality.