1960.456: Head of a Female Figure, in provincial style of 5th century BC
SculptureIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1960.456
- Title
- Head of a Female Figure, in provincial style of 5th century BC
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Work Type
- head, sculpture
- 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