Young Woman

Francesco Laurana

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Dalmatian-born sculptor was active in Naples, Sicily and France. Ten known female masks with downcast eyes were probably produced by him and his shop in southern France about 1475. All have a similarity to portrait busts by him but the function of the masks remains controversial. Some argue that they were made for tomb effigies, others that they formed a wall decoration.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art