ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book shows that the constant struggle to explain Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's Character Heads begun by Nicolai and continued ever since was something that Messerschmidt anticipated, indeed that he wanted and created. The Character Heads are the outgrowth of the realization that the role of the artist in relation to critical opinion would never again be what it was when he was young. His successors would never have the kind of control over art's effects that he had taken for granted. Messerschmidt's sculptures draw attention to the power of his creativity as its own end and not creativity in the service of broader ideas, theories, or concepts. The image with which the book concludes is not one of a scowling face, nor a witty satire, nor a morally inspiring classical myth, but rather something that emphasizes the place of sculpture in Messerschmidt's life.
