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View: 3/4 right profile
Head of an older man, possibly a priest
Roman
Late Republican Period
about 60–30 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Marble, from Dokimeion in Phrygia (modern Turkey)
Dimensions
Overall: 31.8 × 25 × 22.9 cm (12 1/2 × 9 13/16 × 9 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.343
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 321; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 114 (additional published references).
DescriptionOverlife-sized head of an older man with bald or clean-shaven head, slightly turned to the right. The portrait is unflattering with individualized details such as the detailed outlines of the skull, furrowed forehead, bags under the eyes, and loose flesh hanging in folds about the mouth and jaw. The clean-shaven head could indicate that the man was a priest of Isis. The back is unfinished, indicating the original was a full-length statue set in a niche or against a wall.
Little of the neck is preserved. Most of the nose is missing; the ears, chin, temples, and right cheekbone have been damaged.
Little of the neck is preserved. Most of the nose is missing; the ears, chin, temples, and right cheekbone have been damaged.
ProvenanceBy 1899, bought in Rome by Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 - d. 1928), London [see note 1]; 1899, sold by Edward Perry Warren to the MFA for $32,500.00 [note 2]. (Accession date: December 24, 1899)
Notes:
[1] According to Warren’s records.
[2] This is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542.
Notes:
[1] According to Warren’s records.
[2] This is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542.