# Symbolic Head

- By: Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916)
- Date: c. 1890
- Medium: oil on paper mounted on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 69 x 54.5 x 7.5 cm (27 3/16 x 21 7/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 53.3 x 38 cm (21 x 14 15/16 in.)
- Culture: France, 19th century
- Credit line: Gift of the Mildred Andrews Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1988.91)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1988.91/1988.91_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

One of Redon’s favorite themes was a head depicted in profile, sometimes separated from the body to symbolize the spirit released from the material world. It also suggests a metaphor for abandoning physical reality for the inner realm of dreams, fantasy, and poetic reverie. This painting conveys the idea of inward-turning vision by framing the head in a series of collapsing rectangles. Conservation analysis confirms that the figure is a woman wearing a helmet and holding a green staff in her right hand.