Head of a bearded king

This crowned head is characteristic of the style of Gislebertus, the famous French Romanesque sculptor of the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare. The head may have come from a capital within the cathedral depicting the Magi from the Nativity story; alternately, it may be from a series of the Elders of the Apocalypse. The pupils of the eyes were originally filled with lead pellets. Gislebertus was permitted the unusual honor of carving his name beneath one of the sculptures in the west portal tympanum (Gislebertus hoc fecit, i.e. “Gislebertus made this”).

Sources:
- Charles T. Little, _Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture, 2006_, 77-78.
- Jane Hayward and Walter Cahn, _Radiance and Reflection: Medieval Art from the Raymond Pitcairn Collection_, 1982, 79.
- Julia Perratore, “Glencairn’s Royalty: Images of Kings and Queens in the Medieval Collection,” _Glencairn Museum News_, Number 6, 2018.