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Head of Polyphemos
Greek or Roman
Hellenistic or Imperial Period
about 150 B.C. or later
Medium/Technique
Marble, Dolomitic from the Greek island of Thasos
Dimensions
Height: 38.3 cm (15 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated in honor of Edward W. Forbes
Accession Number63.120
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
The ninth book of the Odyssey recounts the most famous of Odysseus's adventures, his visit to the island of Polyphemos, a one-eyed man-eating giant. This Cyclops was a shepherd who trapped Odysseus and his men inside his cave and then began to devour them one by one. Odysseus outwitted the monster, intoxicated him with wine, and blinded him with a wooden stake. Polyphemos then opened the cave entrance, and Odysseus and his remaining comrades managed to escape.
Scholars have suggested that this head was part of a large-scale sculptural ensemble depicting the blind-ing of Polyphemos, similar to a group found in an im-perial dining grotto at Sperlonga, south of Rome. But the vertical position of the head and the contemplative, rather than drunken, expression on the Cyclops's face suggest instead that Polyphemos may be considering his unrequited love for the sea nymph Galatea, as related by the Hellenistic poet Theocritus in his Idylls.
The active treatment of the hair, beard, and face finds close parallels in the carving of sculptors working in Pergamon during the second century B.C., yet it is difficult to tell whether this head is a Hellenistic or a Roman adaptation of the Pergamene style. The positioning of the lone eye on the bridge of the nose is an innovation that probably dates from the Classical period in Greek art; earlier artistic interpretations of Cyclopes on vases and terracottas set the eye in the middle of the forehead. This iconographic change makes Polyphemos, as much as he is a monster, appear very human.
Scholars have suggested that this head was part of a large-scale sculptural ensemble depicting the blind-ing of Polyphemos, similar to a group found in an im-perial dining grotto at Sperlonga, south of Rome. But the vertical position of the head and the contemplative, rather than drunken, expression on the Cyclops's face suggest instead that Polyphemos may be considering his unrequited love for the sea nymph Galatea, as related by the Hellenistic poet Theocritus in his Idylls.
The active treatment of the hair, beard, and face finds close parallels in the carving of sculptors working in Pergamon during the second century B.C., yet it is difficult to tell whether this head is a Hellenistic or a Roman adaptation of the Pergamene style. The positioning of the lone eye on the bridge of the nose is an innovation that probably dates from the Classical period in Greek art; earlier artistic interpretations of Cyclopes on vases and terracottas set the eye in the middle of the forehead. This iconographic change makes Polyphemos, as much as he is a monster, appear very human.
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 105; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 109 (additional published references); Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 068-069.
DescriptionThis head comes from a group, probably of the blinding of Polyphemos, similar to that constructed from fragments found in the grotto at Sperlonga, along the Italian coast southwest of Rome. Polyphemos is based, in details of hair and beard, on a Pergamene centaur. The sculptor was wise in rejecting the older tradition, one seen in Hellenistic terracottas, of showing the monstrous giant as a kind of fat-faced baboon, with large ears and his eye set like a beacon light in the middle of his forehead. Here the rugged, animal power of the creature has been stressed.
Broken off through the neck and the lower whiskers, the head is in relatively excellent condition, save for the damage to the beard below the mouth. The marble has a yellow-buff tone.
This is the head of the one-eyed, man-eating Cyclops whom Odysseus finally outwitted and blinded. Here the monster is in a peaceful mood, either waiting to receive the cup of wine offered him by Odysseus, or, more likely, gazing love-struck at the indifferent sea nymph Galatea. The head comes from a sculptural group that might have adorned a public fountain or a luxurious seaside villa. The type originated in the second century B.C., yet the lively and direct style of this piece makes difficult to judge whether it is a contemporary variant or a Roman copy.
Scientific Analysis:
Marble has been scientifically tested with X-Ray Diffraction and determined to be Dolomitic.
Harvard Lab No. HI363: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.85 / delta18O -3.03, Attribution - Thasos-Cape Vathy, Justification - Dolomitic by XRD.
Broken off through the neck and the lower whiskers, the head is in relatively excellent condition, save for the damage to the beard below the mouth. The marble has a yellow-buff tone.
This is the head of the one-eyed, man-eating Cyclops whom Odysseus finally outwitted and blinded. Here the monster is in a peaceful mood, either waiting to receive the cup of wine offered him by Odysseus, or, more likely, gazing love-struck at the indifferent sea nymph Galatea. The head comes from a sculptural group that might have adorned a public fountain or a luxurious seaside villa. The type originated in the second century B.C., yet the lively and direct style of this piece makes difficult to judge whether it is a contemporary variant or a Roman copy.
Scientific Analysis:
Marble has been scientifically tested with X-Ray Diffraction and determined to be Dolomitic.
Harvard Lab No. HI363: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.85 / delta18O -3.03, Attribution - Thasos-Cape Vathy, Justification - Dolomitic by XRD.
Provenance1956, said to be in the collection of R. L. Ashman, New York [see note]. By 1957, Robert E. Hecht (dealer; b. 1919 - d. 2012), Hesperia Art, Philadelphia; 1963, sold by Hesperia Art to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 13. 1963)
NOTE: Robert E. Hecht, "A Colossal Head of Polyphemos," Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 24 (1956): p. 137, where it is said to be of "unknown provenance" (i.e., findspot) and "in a private collection."
NOTE: Robert E. Hecht, "A Colossal Head of Polyphemos," Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 24 (1956): p. 137, where it is said to be of "unknown provenance" (i.e., findspot) and "in a private collection."