Head of a Bearded Man

Provenance

Collection Arthur Sambon, early 20th century

Literature

A. Sambon, Aperçu de l’évolution de la sculpture depuis l’antiquité jusqu’à la fin du XVIe siècle, 1931, pl.32

Description / Expertise

This expressive head of a man with aquiline features and sensuous lips
was commissioned to preserve his features and memory for posterity.
The man gazes earnestly at the beholder, his eyes contoured by sharply cut lids and his eyebrows slightly drawn together in the hint of a frown. In a sculptural tour-de-force the bony structure of the head is rendered clearly discernable below the taut skin and contrasted to the elaborately worked beard and hair.
Especially eye-catching is the play of light and shade on the strands of the well-kept beard that curl around deep drill holes.