/internal/media/dispatcher/10719/full"Character Head" No. 48Ein alter frölicher Lächler1777/1783[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