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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1960.456
Title
Head of a Female Figure, in provincial style of 5th century BC
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, head
Date
1-150 CE
Period
Roman Imperial period, Early
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/289142

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Marble
Dimensions
actual: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson
Accession Year
1960
Object Number
1960.456
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums , written 1990

18



Head of a Female Figure



The nose is rubbed, and there are surface scratches around the mouth, eyes, and forehead.



The head is of a woman with her hair drawn up in back, forming a chignon; she is wearing a fillet. The head may have been part of a votive or funerary statue of small dimensions, or its frontality could make it part of an architectural ensemble, such as a balustrade.



The facial type points to a provincial style of the fifth century BC. Small, provincial heads of divinities and others from Egypt or Cyprus (Comstock, Vermeule, 1976, p. 121, no. 185), from mainland Greece or the Aegean islands (Comstock, Vermeule, 1976, p. 122, no. 188), and from Asia Minor by way of Istanbul, of the divinities Men or Attis (Comstock, Vermeule, 1976, p. 143, no. 229) show the same large eyes outlined by simple, heavy lids, summary hair in a retrospective style, compressed lips, and direct, unemotional frontality.



Whatever its antecedents, this head appears have been carved in the Roman Imperial period, probably in Asia Minor some time during the first century or first half of the second. Simple though they may be, and of indifferent quality in terms of Greek sculpture of the fifth century BC through the Hellenistic age, heads such as this provided a bridge to the Late Antique, proto-Byzantine statues and relief in the Greek Imperial world.



Cornelius Vermeule and Amy Brauer

Publication History

  • Fogg Art Museum, The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, A Special Exhibition, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1961), p. 27, no. 209
  • Cornelius C. Vermeule III and Amy Brauer, Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 33, no. 18

Exhibition History

  • The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities: A Special Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, 05/01/1961 - 09/20/1961

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 Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu