Harvard Art Museums > 1960.504: Ithyphallic Herm of a Beardless Youth Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Ithyphallic Herm of a Beardless Youth , 1960.504,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 20, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/290893. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1960.504 Title Ithyphallic Herm of a Beardless Youth Classification Sculpture Work Type sculpture Date 3rd century BCE or later Period Roman period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/290893 Physical Descriptions Medium Terracotta Technique Mold-made Dimensions 40 × 9 × 6 cm (15 3/4 × 3 9/16 × 2 3/8 in.) Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson Accession Year 1960 Object Number 1960.504 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Mostly complete statuette. Large chip off crown; mended at the base. Ithyphallic herm with the head of a beardless youth wearing a broad-brimmed hat or radiating crown. Brim circles all the way around the head, with a pattern of dotted diamonds at front, and lines that fan out at back. Short, straight hair framing an oval face, tucked behind visible ears. Large, almond-shaped eyes with lids and pupils rendered in relief. Straight nose; plump, closed mouth. Long neck with ribbons or long locks of hair falling at the sides and onto the body, which is a simple pillar with square bosses for arms. He wears a traveling cloak with a soft cowl at the neck, and round pin or ornament at the right shoulder. The cloak falls with plastic, vertical folds along the “upper body” at front, and with incised, horizontal folds at the back. A small erect phallus and scrotum are left exposed below a wide triangle of pubic hair indicated by depressed dots. He stands on a high plain base with simple molding at the top. A young Hermes with chlamys and petasus? Grafitto incised at the back of the base. Perhaps a signature or monogram associated with a workshop. Greek letters of different sizes arranged in a compact formation. From left to right, and large to small: an uppercase, broken bar alpha, and an uppercase tau, both on a horizontal line. A small omicron just above the alpha. Two more marks above the tau: shallow incision, could be two more letters, perhaps two lowercase deltas, or a delta and a chi? To the right of the tau, what appears to be a lunate sigma. Would have been painted originally, now only traces of white ground extant. Hollow with and open bottom; heavy. Join seams visible on interior. Large circular venthole at back, at the height of the arms. Light pinkish yellow clay, very slightly micaceous. Commentary Generally speaking, herms were simple anthropomorphic pillars that served as boundary markers. Their carved heads can often be identified with the god Hermes, though other gods (and even notable mortals) were also represented. Herms were also thought to be protective (boundaries tend to be dangerous places after all); a small version such as this example would have likely served an apotropaic purpose. Part of what makes herms "work" is that they always have worked. Because of this, they tend to look similar regardless of when they were made or what the prevalent artistic styles were at the time. This can make small terracotta herms, especially, difficult to date. Our example is signed, and that might offer some clues: broken bar alphas begin to be used in the Hellenistic period, but appear later as well. If the letter to the right of the tau is a lunate sigma, that would date the figurine to the Roman period. The amount of incised detail would seem to corroborate a later date. 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. 36, no. 306 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
