SCULPTURE

Female portrait head Γ27

  Museum/Current place of storage: Athens, Acropolis Museum.
  Inv. no: 2168
  Dimensions:
  Material: H. 0,19m., w. 0,15m., th. 0,18m.
  Findspot: Athens (the exact findspot is unknown).
  Original Display Location: Unknown.
  Date: Roman Imperial period.
  Statuary Type (body) : -
  Mode of Self-Representation (head):

Generic classicizing hairstyle and idealized (?) face (“non-portrait”?).

  Civic Presence (Social Role Represented): Priestess or initiate (due to the crown).
  Inscribed Base: No.
  Author: Panagiotis Konstantinidis
  Added: 2024-09-07
  Edited:

Description - Comments:

The head is preserved with part of the neck. Left unfinished; roughly carved with the chisel, point, and, in places, the drill. According to G. Dontas, its surface bears traces of fire. Only the general outline of the coiffure and facial features can be discerned. The coiffure is simple, classicizing, divided at the top of the forehead into two equal parts and combed towards the back of the head. G. Dontas recognizes in the mass of marble on either side of the neck two long stands of hair that start behind the ears and cover the base of the head and the shoulders. She wears a crown of unspecified leaves type (priestess or initiate – Dontas 2004, 58: arrephoros; see also {Γ25}). Due to its unfinished state, the dating of the piece is difficult.

Bibliography:

G. Dontas, Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani. Greece I.1 Les portraits attiques au Musée de l'Acropole, Athènes 2004, 58, cat. no. 31, pl. 25 (Hadrianic period?; Arrephoros?).