Constipation Portrait Character Head by Messerschmidt

The Constipation portrait Man is one of a series of portrait busts or "Character Heads" made by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, an eighteen-century German sculptor active in Austria. This bust portrays a middle-aged man with a expression, which seems to fall somewhere between a grimace and a scowl. The most telling aspect may be the furrowed brow above squinting eyes and a scrunched nose. But natural cracks in the bust's alabaster surface seem to echo the topography of his skin, both softened by age yet hardened by the extreme expression.