Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

Sculptor

Birthday February 6, 1736

Birth Sign Aquarius

Birthplace Germany

DEATH DATE Aug 19, 1783 (47)

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About

German-Austrian sculptor who created "character heads", a series of busts with contorted faces, including the piece A Hypocrite and Slanderer.

Before Fame

He spent two years in Graz, working in the workshop of his maternal uncle.

Trivia

He said the purpose of his "character heads" was to represent 64 "canonical grimaces" of the human face.

Family Life

He was raised by his uncle, the sculptor Johann Baptist Straub.

Associated With

He and Graeme Lloyd both suffered from Crohn's disease.

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