Franz Xaver Messerschmidt was one of the most impressive sculptors from the Enlightenment period. An academically trained artist, he achieved wide acclaim in Vienna thanks to some original portraits he painted for Empress Maria Theresa and her court.
After a study trip to Rome, he was among the first sculptors to break away from the sumptuous works of the Baroque tradition in favour of the more composed rhythms of Neoclassicism. However, around 1770, at the height of his fame, Messerschmidt's existence was shaken by a deep personal crisis, possibly caused by mental problems, which led him to leave Vienna and move to Pressburg, modern-day Bratislava.
Here, while occasionally continuing to produce commissioned portraits, he mainly devoted himself to what were to become his most famous works, the “character heads”. According to witnesses at the time, these portraits, characterised by expressions ranging from a firm, classical impassivity to the most exaggerated and grotesque grimaces, were a means for Messerschmidt to ward off and exorcise the demons that he felt haunted by. Of the approximately 69 heads that were in the artist's studio at the time of his death in 1783 and inherited by his brother, 49 were exhibited in Vienna in 1793 and were later split up.
To date, only 44 heads, preserved in museums and private collections, have been traced. The two “character heads” were originally placed by Count Guglielmo Coronini in the Library Room, on either side of the entrance door connecting to the Atrium.
Since November 2016, they have been relocated to one of the rooms on the ground floor of the palace originally used for storage, where an impressive permanent exhibition has been set up to allow their extraordinary emotional power to be fully appreciated.
Next to the heads, a third work was also placed in the room, but exhibited earlier: a metal medallion in neoclassical style, with a female portrait in profile.
