Sculpture

Female head Γ14

Museum/Current place of storage:	Athens, National Archaeological Museum.
Inv. no:	1991
Dimensions:
Material:	H. 0,19m.
Findspot:	In 1902, in Chalkida, at the site “Vromousa”, where a 1st – 2nd c. CE necropolis has been excavated (P. Karvonis, M. Mikedaki, Tabula imperii romani: Smyrna. I. Aegean islands, Athens 2012, 219· P. Karvonis, “Τοπογραφία της ρωμαϊκής Εύβοιας”, in V. Vlachou, A. Gadolou eds., Τέρψις. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology in Honour of Nota Kourou, Brussels 2017, 333).
Original Display Location:	Probably part of a funerary monument of unknown type.
Date:	2nd c. CE (?)
Statuary Type (body) :	-
Mode of Self-Representation (head):	Generic classicistic coiffure and idealized face (“non-portrait”).
Civic Presence (Social Role Represented):	Unknown.
Inscribed Base:	No.
Author:	Panagiotis Konstantinidis
Added:	2024-09-06
Edited:

Description - Comments:

The head is preserved almost complete, together with part of the neck. The tip of the nose has broken off, while chipping and minor breaks are evident on the mouth and the left side of the face. The hairstyle is generic, consisting of wavy locks that are combed towards the sides and back, where they gather at the nape of the neck. At the middle of the skull they are tied with a tainia. Small holes are drilled in the lobes of the ears for inserting metal earrings. In spite of the generic classicistic headdress, the strongly idealized face and the small size (statuette) which make the identification of the figure as a portrait uncertain (“dubium”), the latter remains probable on the one hand due to the findspot (cemetery), on the other hand due to the similar size to the statuette-portrait in formam deorum from Pentalofo {Γ1}.

Bibliography:

N. Kaltsas, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο. Τα γλυπτά κατάλογος, Athens 2001, 122, cat. no. 225, fig. 225.