In the Middle Ages, the head was revered as a symbol of intelligence, sanity, and character, embodying the personality and identity of the person it represented. However, during waves of iconoclasm and political upheaval, these sculptures were increasingly seen as symbols of authority and thus as threats. Defacing or beheading them stripped these figures of their identity and power—an act as symbolically profound as it was destructive.
Beyond the figures of kings and saints from portals, the exhibition also includes stone heads with exaggerated, grotesque expressions that once lurked in the shadowy corners of churches and abbeys. These fantastical figures, with foolish grins, pained grimaces, or animalistic features, emerged from the buildins' hidden crevices to surprise and entertain viewers, their absurdity a vivid contrast to the more solemn sacred images nearby.
Today, though separated from their original contexts, these stone heads still strongly resonate with contemporary viewers. Spanning from 500 to 1500 and drawn from a variety of settings, they captivate with their beauty and mystery, affirming our enduring fascination with the head immortalised in stone.
Highlights
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Retablos II Spanish Paintings and Polychromed Sculpture from the 13th to 16th centuries
Indian and Persian Drawings An Exhibition in Collaboration with Les Enluminures, New York
A Border Cartouche from one of the Ardabil Medallion Carpets Central Persia, Probably Qazvin, c. 1539–1540
