 |
| John Thomas Smith Studies after the Bust of Samuel Johnson ca. 1800 drawing Yale Center for British Art |
 |
| Staffordshire Potteries Bust of a Man ca. 1810-20 lead-glazed earthenware Art Institute of Chicago |
 |
| Matthias Joseph de Noël after Alfonso Lombardi Head of an Old Man (from sculpture group) ca. 1820 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| Ludwig Emil Grimm Head of a Bearded Man 1822 etching (derived from a drawing made in Rome) Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Samuel Joseph Portrait Bust of Hamilton Campbell, Lady Belhaven and Stenton 1827 marble Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
 |
| John Varley Sketch for a Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy 1828 drawing Tate Gallery |
 |
| Eugène Devéria Head of a Man ca. 1840 drawing Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
 |
| Joseph Noel Paton Head of a Youth 1845 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
 |
| Jean-François Millet Study of a Head ca. 1846-48 drawing Yale University Art Gallery |
 |
| Friedrich Wasmann Head of a Man ca. 1850 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| Léon Riesener Study Head of a Man ca. 1850 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| Charles Louis Müller Profile Study of a Bearded Man ca. 1860-65 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
 |
| John Henry Parker (publisher) Colossal Head of Constantine in Rome ca. 1865 albumen print Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
 |
| Anonymous German Manufacturer Man's Head as Bonbonnière 19th century porcelain Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Félicien Rops Head of a Man 1873 drawing Yale University Art Gallery |
 |
| John Singer Sargent Two Heads ca. 1875-80 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
from "They that dally nicely with words may quickly make them wanton"
Should I take this time, while the children are in school,
to untrim the tree? Standing in the dish we let go dry,
it looks well-preserved, as if Christmas were still
in our future; would it spare their feelings if I dismantle
piece by piece its grandeur, or will I amplify
their sense of loss, to de-jewel it without ritual?
Epiphany, we drove by a painted camel on a church lawn
– or what, after hard freeze, is lawn's avatar.
No magus, Jefferson Davis brought camel brawn
to Texas to aid in the Civil War. Now they're gone
except in these tableaux where Balthazar,
with all his diamonds, kneels before the Paragon.
We were coming back from a weekend getaway
before the holiday's official end. I took the dog,
went out on the beach, but the length of South Padre
was swept by a long wind; dunes went astray;
thin snakes of sand grains slithered; I couldn't jog;
the Gulf went from glaucous to cauldron gray.
– Ange Mlinko (2015)