2004.199: Head

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