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A stucco sculpture of a head with their hair up.

The stucco sculpture is of a head from the neck up and facing the viewer. It is pale tan in color. The person’s face has a neutral expression. Their face has a round chin, a small mouth, a long slender nose, large almond shaped eyes, and thin rounded eyebrows. Their hair is up on top of their head in a bun with two rows of small tight circles at the hairline.

Gallery Text

What Is in a Head?

Figural representation often emphasizes the head and face. Eyes, ears, nose, and mouth hold particular potential for interaction with the viewer, and the face is frequently perceived as a mirror of the mind. In ancient Egypt, the Near East, and Greece, most depictions of humans and deities included the full body. This allowed the subjects to strike a distinctive pose, while their clothing indicated social standing. Portraits in head or bust form became common in Roman art and have played a major role in Western art ever since. The art of other cultures around the world also reflects special significance attributed to the head. The Edo peoples of the Benin kingdom in present-day Nigeria, for example, regarded the head as the seat of knowledge and decision-making power and crucial to a person’s, or in the case of a king, the state’s well-being. In this space outside the Roman gallery, several sculpted heads — self-contained images, a vessel, and statue parts — invite comparison across continents and millennia.

The sculptures place varying emphasis on accessories, such as the royal coral-bead cap and collar of the Benin bronze head and the “barbarian” floppy hat of the Roman marble head. Hairstyle and physique can express social roles and character traits, as in the case of the philosopher’s beard of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, seen here in an Italian Renaissance version, and the princely topknot of the Gandharan bodhisattva, an enlightened, compassionate being distinguished from other Buddhist figures by his depiction in royal Indian attire.

The individualized features of the ancient Peruvian stirrup-spout bottle — probably portraying a historical or mythical figure — contrast with the idealized face of the bodhisattva and the classicizing one of the Roman marble head of what may be a generic Easterner. The heads meet the viewer’s gaze with unemotional, controlled expressions that correspond to the codes and conventions of their time.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.57.7
Title
Head of a Buddhist Figure
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
head, sculpture
Date
4th-5th century
Places
Creation Place: Central Asia, Afghanistan, Hadda
Culture
Gandharan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/202859

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3710, North Arcade
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Stucco with traces of polychromy; Gandharan style, from Hadda, Afghanistan
Technique
Stucco
Dimensions
35.3 × 22 × 28 cm (13 7/8 × 8 11/16 × 11 in.)
with current mount: 49 cm (19 5/16 in.)
25.8 lb

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Yamanaka & Co., New York, 5/14/1941] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1941-1943), bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.57.7
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Exhibition History

  • S424: Indian and Southeast Asian Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 08/01/2008
  • 32Q: 3710 North Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • Google Art Project

Related Articles

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu