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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2004.199
Title
Head
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, head
Date
c. 500 BCE-400 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Cyprus
Period
Classical period, Early
Culture
Cypriot
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/57142

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Limestone
Technique
Carved
Dimensions
11.43 cm (4 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
From the collection of Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Benjamin and Lilian Hertzberg
Accession Year
2004
Object Number
2004.199
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This statue head, broken off at the neck, represents a male youth wearing a laurel wreath. The eyes, indicated by shallow raised relief, are almond-shaped and flat. The nose is prominent, wide, and bulbous. The cheeks are flat. The mouth is indicated by a wide gouge, creating a slight smile. The chin is broad and protruding. A band of hair with shallow vertical incisions runs across the forehead. The ears a slightly raised, and lack detail. The hair, or a continuation of the wreath, covers the back of the neck. The wreath is comprised of a row of vertical leaves. The top of the head extends above the wreath, and is covered with hatching. The back of the statue is flat and undecorated.

This head closely resembles those of stone statues and figurines from Cyprus. Its closest parallel is to a head in the British Museum excavated by Sir Robert Hamilton Lang on at Dali (near the ancient city of Idalion), dating to c. 480 BCE (1). Cypriot sculptures of these sorts are generally believed to be images of worshippers that were dedicated in temples.

NOTE:

1. BM 1873,0320.16; F. N. Pryce, Catalogue of the Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities of the British Museum, Vol. I Part II: Cypriote and Etruscan (London, 1931) no. C139.

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