xxxxxxx

Besides the column statues from the lost Portico of Glory facade, there is also a head that shares the same origins. As such, it offers valuable information about how the Portico figures were carved and how they would have looked in Master Mateo's workshop. The head was sculpted independently from the statue on which it sat, which has now been lost.

It is the head of a man with a long, thick beard, the ends of which curl much like those on various figures on the Portico of Glory. Likewise, his hair forms an abundance of locks curled tightly to the head, creating a play of light and shadow between them. The sides, and the lower and rear areas have been damaged slightly, probably when it was reused as material to build a wall.

The expression on the face is placid, with a closed mouth framed by a beard and moustache; thin, delicately crafted lips with a hint of a smile; a straight, well-proportioned nose, the lower end of which is damaged; large, open, carefully-sculpted eyes that enhance the face's expressiveness and vitality, despite having completely lost the color they surely once had; and a broad, clear, and smooth forehead.

It was made by one of the sculptors trained by Master Mateo as they worked on the Portico of Glory. The overall structure of the head is similar to that of other figures from the portico.

According to Yzquierdo Perrín, there is no doubt that it came from a column statue from the lost western facade of Santiago Cathedral. This head, unlike other sculptures from this facade, was crafted separately from the body of its column statue: it has a protruding circular rod at the base, which was made to fit into a similar-sized gap in the statue's body. The head may represent a biblical character and is a unique example of the techniques used in Master Mateo's Santiago workshop.