LOT 1635

Medieval Romanesque Marble Head of a Saint

LATE 12TH-13TH CENTURY A.D.

7 in. (3.8 kg, 18 cm).

Carved naturalistically in the round as a mature male figure with short wavy hair, full beard and moustache, his brow furrowed and mouth held slightly ajar; repaired.

Acquired in Europe before 1996.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11809-206816.

See Sauerländer, W., Gothic Sculpture in France 1140-1270, Ambrams, 1972; Cahn, W. and Seidel, L., Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections, 1: New England Museums, New York, 1979; Williamson, P., Gothic Sculpture 1140-1300, Yale University Press, 1995; Fogg, S., 30 Heads, stone heads from the 12th to the 15th century, London-New York, 2018.

The head was carved as an image of a saint, Apostle or a prophet. The accomplished and sophisticated style of carving on this head can be compared to some of the most celebrated Romanesque buildings of Southern France. The carving of the head resembles the representations of heads and faces of 12th century French Romanesque art, for example those of Saint Trophime in Arles. This imposing head once served as an important architectural part of a lavishly decorated church, possibly in western France. Its form and the size suggest that the head was not only decorative but that it would have been structurally important – perhaps part of a row of statues of apostles and prophets like those depicted on the Saint Trophime façade.