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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
1936.15
People
Unidentified Artist
Title
Marcus Aurelius
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Alessandro di Medicis / Portrait in the Style of Roman Busts
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
head, sculpture
Date
16th century
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Veneto, Venice
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/231357

Location

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

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
36.8 x 24 x 25 cm (14 1/2 x 9 7/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
with base: 52.8 x 24 x 25 cm (20 13/16 x 9 7/16 x 9 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Charles Butler, 1821-1910. [George Harding, London], sold; to Grenville Lindall Winthrop, New York, 1911, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1936

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Grenville L. Winthrop, Class of 1886
Accession Year
1936
Object Number
1936.15
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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

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Publication History

  • "Accessions", American Magazine of Art (Oct 1936), vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 660-661, repr. p. 660
  • [Unidentified article], Boston Post (June 7 1936)
  • [Unidentified article], Boston Traveller (January 9 1936)
  • Gothic to Baroque in Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, exh. cat., Allentown Art Museum (Allentown, PA, 1960), no. 20, repr. p. 55, cklist p. 18
  • Eunice Williams, Gods & Heroes: Baroque Images of Antiquity, Wildenstein Gallery, New York (New York, NY, 1968), no. 64, repr.
  • Wendy Stedman Sheard, Antiquity in the Renaissance, exh. cat., Smith College Museum of Art (Northampton, MA, 1978), under no. 79; repr., no. 79, supplement

Exhibition History

  • Gothic To Baroque in Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, 10/29/1960 - 12/31/1960
  • Gods & Heroes: Baroque Images of Antiquity, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 10/29/1968 - 01/04/1969
  • Re-View: S422-423 Western Art of the Middle Ages & Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/16/2008 - 06/18/2011
  • 32Q: 3710 North Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu