23"Character Head" No. 341770/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtLead alloy (58.8% lead, 40.4% tin) This bust represents the first of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s so-called “Character Heads” to enter the Belvedere’s collection, in 1915. Although the series—numbering at least fifty-five works in various metal alloys and alabaster—is now commonly known by this title, the designation has been in use only since 1805. Messerschmidt himself referred to them simply as “Kopfstücke” (head pieces). Across the series, the sculptor explores a wide range of facial expressions and grimaces, likely based on his own features. Several of the busts push these expressions to extremes, including the present example, with its tightly squinting eyes and firmly pressed lips.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/792/rdfKinderköpfchenundated[Medardo Rosso]Medardo RossoWax The Italian-French sculptor Medardo Rosso spent more than twenty years working on what may be his most ambitious series of works devoted to the motif of a child’s head. Versions of the head, first executed in 1892, also circulate under the titles Impressione di Bambino, Petit enfant, Impression, and Impression d’enfant. The titles themselves make clear the artist’s ambition to translate Impressionist ways of seeing into sculptural form. Just as Impressionist painters captured the fleeting impressions of the same scene on canvas, Rosso continually reworked the sculpture through individually varied applications of wax.Arts and craftshttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8000/rdf"Character Head" No. 111771/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtYellowish alabaster With the lower lip everted, the chin pushed forward, and the eyes—wide open and without pupils—the expression of this bust by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt remains a puzzle. Beginning in the late 1770s, the sculptor worked on a series of portrait busts with a rich range of facial expressions. This work is one of ten alabaster “Character Heads.” They were acquired in the late nineteenth century, at the initiative of the architect Camillo Sitte, as teaching aids for the Vienna State School of Applied Arts. The group later entered the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (today the MAK—Museum of Applied Arts) before being transferred to the Austrian Gallery Belvedere in two installments, in 1922 and 1964.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8082/rdf"Character Head" No. 321777/1783 (?)[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtWhite, brown-flecked alabaster Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s posthumous popularity rests largely on his “Character Heads,” known for their extremely distorted facial features. Alongside these, however, is a group of busts whose expressions appear calm and composed, aligning them more closely with the classicizing portraiture of the period. The present alabaster work belongs to this group: it depicts a man with largely relaxed features. Only the eyebrows are drawn together, suggesting a concentrated gaze, though it remains unclear where it is directed.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8083/rdf"Character Head" No. 481777/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtLime wood under a layer of wax Among the known “Character Heads” by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, this is the only one not made of metal or alabaster but carved in linden wood and finished with a wax coating. Messerschmidt was already esteemed by his contemporaries as a skilled woodcarver, likely owing to his training with his uncle, the Munich-based sculptor Johann Baptist Straub. This depiction of a smiling man was presumably a preparatory study for another piece rather than an independent work, though this remains unclear, as no comparable works are known and his working process is poorly understood.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8086/rdf"Character Head" No. 331777/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtTin alloy (79.9% tin, 18.8% lead) In this portrait bust, with the head is pressed against the chest, the eyes narrowed, the nose wrinkled, and the lips clenched, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt seems to seek an appropriate expression for intense inner states. It is one of three busts that the Viennese auction house Albert Kende acquired for the Belvedere in 1923 and 1927, thereby expanding the collection’s holdings of “Character Heads” cast in metal alloys. Messerschmidt primarily used tin and lead in varying proportions; here, for instance, 79.9 percent tin and 18.8 percent lead.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8242/rdfVenus Showing Mars Her Hand Wounded by Diomedes1810[Johann Nepomuk Schaller]Johann Nepomuk SchallerTyrolean marbleThe bas-relief that accompanies Leopold Kiesling’s Mars and Venus with Cupid was conceived only after the sculptural group had been completed. For its subject, the sculptor Johann Nepomuk Schaller chose an episode from the Iliad. Aeneas, the mythical progenitor of ancient Rome, narrowly escapes death in battle against Diomedes. His mother, Venus, is wounded in the hand during the encounter. Schaller depicts the moment when Venus shows her injury to Mars, the god of war, and asks him for his horses so that she may return to the Olympus. In the background, the divine messenger Iris can be seen restraining the horses of the chariot. The relief was set into the wall of the Imperial Picture Gallery at the Belvedere Palace in 1827, but it was not mounted onto the base of the Mars and Venus with Cupid group until 1923. Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8357/rdf"Character Head" No. 101775/1777[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtTin cast (99.0% tin) Forehead furrowed, eyebrows drawn together, eyes wide open, their pupils blank: in this bust made of almost pure tin, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt renders extreme expressions of the human face with great skill, yet it remains unclear what he intended to convey. The “Character Heads,” a series he developed without a formal commission, have inspired countless interpretations, and the busts have often been given misleading titles. Some readings even attempt to draw speculative conclusions about the sculptor’s life and personality from the works themselves. Messerschmidt may have conceived this series in response to the idealized neoclassical portraits of the era, which avoided any kind of exaggerated expression.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/1995/rdfLarge Seated Figure ("Human Cathedral")1949[Fritz Wotruba]Fritz WotrubaMannersdorf limestone After seven years of exile in Switzerland, Fritz Wotruba returned to Vienna in December 1945 at a decisive moment of his artistic development. The sculptor, who would play a central role in Austrian and international postwar modernist sculpture, abandoned the restrained stylization of his earlier years and developed a new concept of composing the figure. Drawing on French Cubism yet demonstrating an independent design principle, this approach moves toward abstraction and a tectonic, and almost planar organization while remaining faithful to the basic form of the human figure. Visible traces of the sculptor’s hand give the strictly frontal, monumental composition a rugged, rock-like appearance, emphasizing the material presence of the stone.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3524/rdfSt George with the Dragonlate 14th century[Meister von Großlobming]Meister von GroßlobmingBreitenbrunn lime-sandstone, remnants of original mounting The sandstone sculpture shows Saint George triumphing over a dragon, which, legend has it, he defeated. The figure has lost both hands and the lance, but crosses remain visible on the surcoat and shield. Traces of paint prove that the sculpture was once polychromed. With its exceptional level of detail and nuanced expressiveness, this Saint George is considered one of the most significant works of sculpture in the German-speaking regions around 1400. The artist, known as the Master of Großlobming, was evidently well acquainted with the elegant French sculpture of the period and may have maintained a workshop in Vienna, where such forms were being adopted.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3646/rdfHoly Trinity (Mercy Seat)c. 1420/1430[Meister der St. Lambrechter Votivtafel]Meister der St. Lambrechter VotivtafelPainting on limewood, original frame Taking center stage in this small panel are God the Father, God the Son, and a small dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit. They are surrounded by several angels in colorful robes. Representations of this kind, in which God the Father holds his Son, Jesus Christ, either as the Crucified or after the Descent from the Cross, are known as the Throne of Mercy. The small image is an expression of devotion to the Passion of Christ: through devout contemplation, the faithful seek to draw close to Jesus Christ on his path of suffering and to follow in his footsteps. This depiction of the Holy Trinity is the work of the so-called Master of the St. Lambrecht Votive Panel, whose workshop was likely located in Vienna or Wiener Neustadt.Paintinghttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3667/rdfHead of Christc. 1480[Oberösterreichischer Bildhauer]Oberösterreichischer BildhauerChalky sandstone, traces of polychromy In 1467, Emperor Frederick III invited Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden, the most prominent Netherlandish sculptor of his time, to Austria. The artist’s uncompromising realism and innovative three-dimensionality had a strong influence on Austrian sculpture in the final third of the fifteenth century. This head of Christ, the work of an unknown Austrian sculptor, is a case in point. The face of Christ, marked by suffering and death, likely once formed part of a Pietà—a representation of the Crucified mourned by his mother, Mary.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/3681/rdf"Character Head" No. 171777/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtBrown-flecked alabasterAt first glance, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s “Character Heads” resemble the study models used in the academic art training of his day to demonstrate different facial expressions. But these busts, made from high-quality materials such as alabaster and metal, are works of art in their own right, created by the sculptor on his own initiative beginning in the 1770s. In them, he presents a wide range of human expressions, some of which are less than flattering, as in this head, with its eyes wide open and brow deeply furrowed. Messerschmidt’s faces, pushed to extremes, are anything but academic and, with their unusual humor, perhaps challenge the severity of neoclassical ideals.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/4260/rdf"Character Head" No. 251771/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtAlabaster, grey white stone with brownish spots First published in 1793, "The Peculiar Life History of F. X. Messerschmidt", describes this bust as “Ein Erhängter” (A hanged man). Despite the rope around his neck, the figure depicted seems far from lifeless. Messerschmidt may be alluding to the controversial methods of his contemporary, Franz Anton Mesmer, a physician and healer who was personally acquainted with the sculptor. In Paris, Mesmer treated patients with “nervous disorders” using so-called baquets—wooden tubs filled with “magnetized water” from which iron rods and ropes protruded. Patients applied these to specific parts of the body to relieve their symptoms. Messerschmidt may have learned of such treatments in Pressburg/Bratislava through printed accounts.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/4386/rdf"Character Head" No. 151771/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtAlabaster, mottled brownish-grey stone With its squinted eyes, scrunched-up nose, and tightly pressed lips, this head resembles other works in the “Character Heads” series. Unlike the bald “Character Head” No. 25 (inv. no. 5637), however, this figure has thick, curly hair. A closer look at the forehead suggests that this may in fact be a wig, with the figure’s own hair peeking out beneath it. Although Messerschmidt likely based the works he called “headpieces” on his own facial features, they should not be understood as self-portraits.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/4387/rdf"Character Head" No. 61777/1781[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtAlabaster, mottled brownish stone Some of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s “Character Heads” appear realistic and evoke familiar emotions. Others are clearly distorted, even grotesquely contorted. The most radical case is this head: the lower part of the face has been shaped into something like a pointed beak. The work is made of alabaster, a gypsum stone similar to marble that can be carved with great precision and easily polished. It is still unclear what motivated Messerschmidt to create these objects, so unusual for their time. Their fascination, however, is beyond doubt. Artists have repeatedly found in them a source of inspiration for their own work.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/4389/rdfEmpress Elisabethc. 1907[Ilse Beatrice Twardowski-Conrat]Ilse Beatrice Twardowski-ConratMarble About a decade after Empress Elisabeth’s death in 1898, the young sculptor Ilse Beatrice Twardowski-Conrat created a bust of the monarch. Yet the pared-down sculpture in white marble reveals little about the sitter’s identity. Elisabeth’s legendary cascade of hair is concealed beneath a shawl pulled tightly across her cheeks and around her neck. Her head tilts downward, her expression serious and introspective. Twardowski-Conrat was one of the few women artists of her generation to achieve success in sculpture. Her works, including numerous busts and monuments, were exhibited at venues such as the Vienna Secession.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/634/rdfSmall Torso III1971[Fritz Wotruba]Fritz WotrubaBronze In his final years, from 1969 onward, Fritz Wotruba—one of the most significant sculptors of international postwar modernism—returned to human figures reduced to their basic elements. Earlier in his career, he had constructed dynamic, strictly architectural figures by stacking and layering cubes and slab-like elements. His later work conveys a renewed, organic sensuality, defined by a return to basic, anthropomorphic structures; bone-like elements; deep incisions instead of joints, and a sculpturally worked surface. This new corporeality relates to Wotruba’s lifelong engagement with Michelangelo, which he intensified in his final years.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/46969/rdfPerseus and Andromeda1777[Franz Anton Zauner]Franz Anton ZaunerPlaster, tintedFranz Anton Zauner created Perseus and Andromeda, a small sculptural group depicting a mythological scene, in Rome, where he studied ancient antiquities as well as the works of Michelangelo and Raphael. The sculptor captures the moment when Andromeda, as if in a daze, steps away from the rock to which she had been chained, while Perseus stands at her side, offering his support. The monster he has just slain appears beneath the rock on the left. Zauner’s turn toward the ideal of the human form in classical antiquity indicates that his work stands at the transition from Baroque to Neoclassicism. Zauner headed the sculpture class at the Academy of Fine Arts and served as its director from 1806 to 1815. During this period, the institution became one of the most important art academies in Europe.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/775/rdfSmall Reclining Figure1960[Fritz Wotruba]Fritz WotrubaBronze Fritz Wotruba, one of the leading Austrian sculptors of international postwar modernism, developed a series of figures in the early 1960s, built on the cube as their basic element. Unlike in earlier years, the individual blocks no longer align with how the human body is organized. Instead, he layered and stacked various cubic forms at oblique angles, softened by rounded edges and flowing lines. In the summer of 1948, the view of Marseille from the sea left a lasting impression on Wotruba and shaped his ideal of “a sculpture in which landscape, architecture, and city are one.” He would realize his vision years later in "Small Reclining Figure".Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/45952/rdfStudy for a Monument to Victor Hugo1890[Auguste Rodin]Auguste RodinTerracotta The French novelist Victor Hugo (1802–1885) gazes downward, lost in thought. The lower half of his body appears confined within a heavy mass, while three female figures hover above him. They may be muses or the inner voices to which the poet seems to be listening. With works that seem intentionally unfinished, retaining rough surfaces and visible tool marks, French sculptor Auguste Rodin revolutionized traditional sculpture. Rather than glorifying the figure or portraying it as a symbol of power, Rodin focuses on gesture, facial expression, and the immediacy of feeling—on expression in its purest sense. Rodin's design was later executed in marble in a revised form between 1895 and 1906 and is now in the Musée Rodin in Paris.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/1116/rdfCrouching Woman1900-1901[Max Klinger]Max KlingerMarble Around 1900, when creating this marble figure, Max Klinger likely looked to the "Crouching Aphrodite", a 3rd-century BCE Greek sculpture. Like its ancient prototype, Klinger's female figure adopts a posture that appears labored, with her body and arms twisting in a way that feels almost unnatural. Equally unusual and distinctly modern is the rough-cut stone slab beneath her feet, on which she balances precariously. Though best known for his masterful sculptures in marble, Klinger also worked in metal and was highly accomplished as both a painter and printmaker.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/1118/rdfKaiser Franz II. (I.)1796[Franz Anton Zauner]Franz Anton ZaunerCarrara marbleAt the height of his career, the sculptor Franz Anton Zauner modeled this marble portrait of Emperor Francis II in the style of Roman imperial busts. It was intended for the Court Library’s mineral collection. He presents the emperor in a strict frontal view. Zauner’s handling of the marble is particularly refined, most evident in the lifelike rendering of the mouth and cheeks. The emperor’s unusual hairstyle also stands out, as it departs from the principles of Classicism; the artist renders the monarch’s natural hair in a slightly stylized manner. Ten years later, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, and Francis II became Francis I, Emperor of the newly established Austrian Empire. Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/8359/rdf