GERHAERT VAN LEYDEN, Nicolaus
(active 1462-1473)

Man Meditating

c. 1467
Red sandstone, height 44 cm
Musée de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg

The present bust of a man is a striking study in stone of an intricately posed figure in half-length with interlocking arms winding about the torso and supporting the sensitively poised head of a weary man. Should this engaging figure be a self-portrait, as many have suggested, then the originality and freshness of Nicolaus's sculpture are all the more evident.