'The Yawner'
Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736-1783); cast of a missing sculpture (second half of the 20th century)
This is a cast, made in the second half of the 20th century, of
a missing sculpture by German-Austrian sculptor Franz Xaver
Messerschmidt. In 1770, he began working on a planned series of one
hundred different 'character heads', in which he sought to depict
all human emotions and moods. The bust of the 'yawner' was
considered particularly successful by his contemporaries, "for its
effect, which stimulates us to imitate it, furnishes the most
convincing proof to everyone of the excellence of the
portrayal".