Gothic Head - France, End Of The 13th - Beginning Of The 14th Century

This beautiful Gothic head, sculpted at the very end of the 13th century or in the first decades of the 14th century, embodies the finesse and solemnity of medieval art. Carved in stone, it immediately catches the eye with its expression that is both serene and introspective, typical of the sacred figures of the Gothic period. The features of her face, slightly elongated, are imbued with an austere grace: her high forehead, her drawn eyebrows and her thin, slightly open mouth convey a feeling of inner calm. Her eyes, delicately hemmed, seem to fix on a distant point, evoking both spiritual contemplation and silent humanity. Her finely chiseled hair escapes from a cap and falls in wavy locks on her temples. This headdress probably designates our protagonist as a prophet of the Old Testament and allows us to consider his integration within a large-scale architectural decor that gives pride of place to the figures of kings, queens and prophets of the Old Testament, who by decorating structural elements of religious buildings, symbolically carry the Church of Christ. But it could also be a Saint Joseph wearing his bonnet like a famous fragmentary head in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, attached to the decoration of the rood screen of Chartres.