Head
c. 500 BCE-400 BCE
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.
Dimensions
11.43 cm (4 1/2 in.)
Provenance
From the collection of Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg.
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