The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 1, 2023

Celtic Head

100–300

Northern England (Romano-British), Migration period, 2nd-3rd centuries

Sandstone with traces of original red paint

Overall: 30 x 31 x 24 cm (11 13/16 x 12 3/16 x 9 7/16 in.)

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jacob Hirsch 1955.555

Location

106A Migration Period & Coptic

Description

This stone head has never been attached to a torso. It is known from ancient literary sources that the Celts, who originally occupied most of northern Europe from Hungary to the British Isles, practiced ritualistic veneration of the human head. For the Celts, the human head represented the seat of mankind’s magical energy. Stone heads similar to this one have survived in large numbers, especially in the upland regions of northern England (the Pennines, the Peak District, and Cumbria) where this one was undoubtedly made by British Celts during the Roman occupation. Such stone heads were probably placed in religious shrines or grottos generally associated with springs, well heads, or natural landmarks for ritual veneration.

Provenance
Walter Carl, Frankfurt-am-Main, c. 1904-1919; Rothschild (?); (Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York, c. 1945-1955).
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 89 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward B. Henning. Paths of Abstract Art. Cleveland, OH: H.N. Abrams, 1960. Reproduced: fig 5, p. 8; mentioned: fig. 5, pp. 5,19
Fliegel, Stephen. "A Little-Known Celtic Stone Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 3 (1990): 82-103. Reproduced: cover, p. 83-85; Mentioned: p. 82-103 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 94-95, no. 27
Franklin, David. The Cleveland Museum of Art. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd., 2012. Reproduced: p. 18 - 19
Williamson, Paul. The Wyvern Collection: Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture and Metalwork. London: Thames & Hudson, 2018. CMA Mentioned: p. 15
Exhibition history

Metropolitan Museum of Art (9/26/2006 - 2/19/2007): "Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture"

Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"

Paths of Abstract Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 4-November 13, 1960).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 26, 2006-February 19, 2007).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1955.555