/internal/media/dispatcher/65358/full"Character Head" No. 17Der Schaafkopf1777/1783[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]Franz Xaver MesserschmidtBrown-flecked alabasterThe description of the “Der Schaafkopf” (The Simpleton) in “The Peculiar Life History of F.X. Messerschmidt” is far from complimentary. This 1793 account of the sculptor’s life and work describes this piece as a “simpleton,” who is stupid and deceitful, “quite useless for any business, but always busy.” However, the wide-open eyes and the furrowed brow seem more quizzical, while the tightly pressed lips may be interpreted as deliberate and amused silence. In the series of so-called “character heads,” this is the most extreme of all natural-looking busts, surpassed only by the hybrid “Beak Heads”.Sculpturehttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/4260/rdf