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Head of Alexander the Great or Helios, the sun god
Roman
2nd century A.D. or 19th century
Medium/Technique
Marble from Carrara in northwest Italy
Dimensions
Height x length (of face): 48 x 24 cm (18 7/8 x 9 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Catharine Page Perkins Fund
Accession Number95.68
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 127; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 110 (additional published references).
DescriptionTurned violently upward and to its own left, this head of Alexander the Great as Helios, god of the sun, was carved to be let into a statue of nearly colossal proportions. The divine ruler was probably represented in the heroic nude with a cloak or aegis about the shoulders, concealing the join of the neck and shoulders. A ruler's rolled fillet encircles the head behind the leonine locks which enframe the face.
(E.P. Warren: modern; Ariel Herrmann: by Albicini (?); J. B. Ward-Perkins: Carrara marble)
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI216: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.02 / delta18O -1.65, Attribution - Carrara, Doliana 2, Justification - Fine-grained marble.
(E.P. Warren: modern; Ariel Herrmann: by Albicini (?); J. B. Ward-Perkins: Carrara marble)
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI216: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.02 / delta18O -1.65, Attribution - Carrara, Doliana 2, Justification - Fine-grained marble.
ProvenanceFirst published in 1893; photographed by Fototipia Danesi in Rome, probably by 1894; said to have been bought in Alexandria and to come from Menschîye (province of Girghe) which was ancient Ptolemais; by 1894: with Edward Perry Warren (according to his letter of November 11, 1895: found in Mancheeh, province of Girgeh in Egypt); 1895: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 29,857.37 (this figure is the total price for MFA 95.9-95.174)