The beak head of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt is part of the famous series of character heads of the German-Austrian sculptor, who gained great fame posthumously and distinguished themselves by grotesque-bizarre facial expressions. The characters'heads consist of some 52 exhibits and represent self-portraits of the artist Messerschmidt. Each single copy of the series is filigree and detailed and also this specimen with the title "beak head" is part of the series and is characterized by the grotesquely displaced features of the depicted man. The artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt was trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and worked as a kind of court artist for the Austrian Maria Theresia. In addition to these official works, it is mainly the so-called character heads that have helped Franz Xaver Messerschmidt to such fame. The brushes, which are mostly bizarre, show affections and grimaces intended to represent the artist himself, were often seen as signs of a possible mental illness of the artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, which, however, lacks any foundation. Rather, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt uses his art to capture the diversity of human emotions.