SculptureCypriot6th century BCE

Head of a Male Votary

600-550 BCE

Description

Limestone head of a bearded man wearing a pointed helmet with raised earflaps. The face is dominated by big, schematically rendered eyes under slightly raised eyebrows with partly preserved vertical incisions. The cheekbones are prominent and the mouth is small, with tight lips. The greater part of the nose is lost. Framing the lower part of the man’s face, the beard is structured by a dense pattern of vertical zigzag lines. Its lower part is broken off. The ears are carved somewhat cursorily, and the long hair falling into the neck is only roughly shaped. The back of the head is unfinished. Traces of a white slip remain in the groove outlining the proper left earflap, and there are traces of red pigment, likely ocher, on the earflap itself. The head was once part of a statue of a male votary of a type frequently dedicated in Cypriot sanctuaries during the late seventh and earlier sixth centuries BCE. To judge from complete examples, the man would have been depicted with a long tunic, a mantle, and bare feet. The break surface of the neck is perfectly smooth, and was clearly evened out in modern times, probably with a saw.

Classification

Sculpture

Technique

Carved

Medium

Limestone, traces of paint

Culture

Cypriot

Period

Cypro-Archaic period

Century

6th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

42 cm (16 9/16 in.)

Provenance

Sanctuary of Apollo at Golgoi, Athienou, Cyprus (UN buffer zone), found; by Luigi Palma di Cesnola, New York (1870-1874), sold; to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1974-1928), sold; through [Anderson Galleries, New York, 1928] to J. (or G.) Bernard. [Christies Antiquities sale 14355, New York, 25 April 2017, lot 232], sold; to the Harvard Art Museums. Note: Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832-1904), American Consul, first director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.