UNKNOWN MASTER, Italian
(active in the 1270s)

Crowned Head of a Woman

c. 1270
Marble, height 35 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

This engaging head was probably carved in the French court of Robert of Anjou (r. 1266-85) centred in Naples. Its classical overtones are related to works by Nicola di Bartolomeo da Foggia, who signed the masterful pulpit at the Cathedral of Ravello in 1272.