Charles T. Little

During the 2006/2007 winter season, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York held an exhibition of sculpted heads from the late Roman Empire to the European Middle Ages. Editor Charles Little oversees the exhibition catalog and takes the reader on a virtual walk through the museum. All 81 heads are captured here, and with each, comes an in-depth description of the history and findings gleaned there-from.

Peppered throughout the catalog are short essays on various facets of art history, from scientific sculpture dating to the intersection of politics and art to the use of certain motifs and techniques. Each of these palate cleansers offers a new way of looking at medieval sculpture and creates an additional lens for each of the catalogued pieces. The pieces were once a part of either cathedral facades or interior decoration, but for a number of reasons became dislodged from their original places. A lot of the writing focuses on trying to find the sources of the broken heads, and through a combination of technique and limestone analysis, there are quite a few homes found.

Oddly enough, I have been to a few of the source museums listed with the pieces, but have never really thought about them in these ways (one of the myriad reasons I am not an art historian). I hope now, when I return to them, I’ll give them more than the slow shuffled steps that we all do in museums. Overall, this was an interesting look into medieval sculpture.… (meer)