La femme sans tête

2005

Not on view

In La femme sans tête (The Headless Woman) deep sympathy combines with shuddering horror upon confronting the recognizable shape of a human form that appears simultaneously lifelike in its anatomical details and dermal texture, and lifeless by its mutilations and limp stance. Modeled in pale tinted wax, De Bruyckere's approach to rendering flesh draws lessons from the depiction of figures seen in the paintings of Rogier van der Weyden and Lucas Cranach. Painted in delicate hues that conjure alabaster skin, at the same time the figure seems drained of blood. This tension, in which the grisly processes of decay and decomposition appear to unfold before one’s eyes, makes the sculpture incessantly moving and compelling—the body reduced to biological matter in a depiction that verges on abstraction.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: La femme sans tête
Artist: Berlinde De Bruyckere (Belgian, born Ghent 1964)
Date: 2005
Medium: Tinted wax, painted wood and metal
Dimensions: 47 1/4 × 33 1/4 × 33 in. (120 × 84.5 × 83.8 cm)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Gift of Ellen Stern, in loving memory of Jerome Stern, 2023
Object Number: 2023.573
Rights and Reproduction: © Berlinde De Bruyckere
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

The Liar, the copy of the Liar - 1, Francis Alÿs Belgian, Enamel on metal sheet, oil on paperboard with masking tape and oil and wax on canvas glued to particle board — The Liar, the copy of the Liar - 1
Francis Alÿs
1991–94

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Umberto Boccioni Italian, Bronze — Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
Umberto Boccioni
1913, cast 1950

Rods on Round Background, Pol Bury Belgian, Wood and metal — Rods on Round Background
Pol Bury
1963

Tea Infuser and Strainer, Marianne Brandt German, Silver and ebony — Tea Infuser and Strainer
Marianne Brandt
ca. 1924

Mantle Clock, Joseph Garino French, Wood, brass — Mantle Clock
Joseph Garino
ca. 1902

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.