Head of a Woman (c. 1500–1525): Art, History and Details

Head of a Woman (c. 1500–1525) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Michel Colombe (French, c. 1430–c. 1513).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The original context and function of these two marble heads are unknown. They are presumed to have been part of a relief sculpture from a château, perhaps in the Loire region, or else from a tomb sculpture. Their style is reminiscent of sculptures produced by Michel Colombe, a prominent sculptor active in the Loire Valley in the service of aristocratic and royal patrons, and may have been carved by a close follower or member of his workshop.

Object facts

• Title: Head of a Woman
• Date: c. 1500–1525
• Creator attribution: Michel Colombe (French, c. 1430–c. 1513)
• Culture: France
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 14.6 x 14.6 x 9.3 cm (5 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 3 11/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Renaissance
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1921.1004

Collection credit

Gift of William G. Mather

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Head of a Woman." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 9, no. 1 (January 1922): 2-17.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.