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Head of Zeus Ammon
Roman
Imperial Period
1st–2nd century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Marble from Carrara in northwest Italy
Dimensions
Height x length (of face): 28 x 20 cm (11 x 7 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1900
Accession Number03.755
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 141; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 111 (additional published references).
DescriptionHead of the god Zeus Ammon, probably broken from a herm. Roman copy of a Greek original from the mid-5th century B.C., when the cult became popular in Greece, having been exported from its original Cyrenean origins. The ram's horns (originally pieced), springing from above the temples, grew downward at the sides of the head and were curled around the ears. A fillet, with a ribbon wound around it and knotted at the back, encircles the top of the head. Wavy locks have been carved in outline on the smooth surfaces of hair and beard.
The greater parts of both horns, the ram's ears (fastened into round holes in the sides of the head), and the ends of the fillet are missing. The left horn was once refastened, as is shown by dowel holes in the break and in the side of the head. The tip of the nose, the right eyebrow, and some of the locks of the beard have been slightly chipped. The surfaces have a yellow patina.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI721: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.24 / delta18O -1.82, Attribution - Carrara, Justification - Fine grained marble.
The greater parts of both horns, the ram's ears (fastened into round holes in the sides of the head), and the ends of the fillet are missing. The left horn was once refastened, as is shown by dowel holes in the break and in the side of the head. The tip of the nose, the right eyebrow, and some of the locks of the beard have been slightly chipped. The surfaces have a yellow patina.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI721: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.24 / delta18O -1.82, Attribution - Carrara, Justification - Fine grained marble.
ProvenanceSaid to be from Formia, Italy [see note]. By 1903, bought in Rome by Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 - d. 1928), London; 1903, sold by Warren to the MFA. (Accession date: March 24, 1903)
NOTE: According to Warren’s records.
NOTE: According to Warren’s records.