Advanced Search 
View: Front
Head of a woman
Roman
Imperial Period
A.D. 100–125
Place of Manufacture: Greece (possibly)
Medium/Technique
Marble, probably from the Greek island of Paros
Dimensions
Overall: 35 × 21.6 × 25.4 cm (13 3/4 × 8 1/2 × 10 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Samuel and Edward Merrin and Museum purchase with funds by exchange from the Benjamin and Lucy Rowland Collection and a Gift of Barbara Deering Danielson, and the William Francis Warden Fund
Accession Number1992.575
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionHead of a woman that originally belonged to either a full-length statue or bust format. She has an oval face with unblemished skin, large almond-shaped eyes with thick lids and sharp ridges, feathered eyebrows, and full lips. The shape of her nose is broad and flat. The hair framing the woman’s face is made up of a mass of curls piled high in the form of a rounded dome, a style today known as the so-called toupée hairstyle (topuetfrisuren). The artist has distinguished the center of each curl by use of the drill. Behind the halo of curls, the remainder of her hair is gathered into a large bun below the crown of the head. There are indications that a hairnet was used to bind the bun. Short strands of hair have escaped the stylized coiffure and fall onto the back of her neck. There are remains of a mantle around the back and sides of the neck.
The head has a break at the collar-bone level, and there has been some damage to the tip and bridge of the nose.
The head has a break at the collar-bone level, and there has been some damage to the tip and bridge of the nose.
ProvenanceBy 1991, Samuel Merrin and Edward Merrin, Merrin Gallery, New York; 1992, partial sale by the Merrin Gallery and partial year-end gift of Samuel and Edward Merrin to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 27, 1993)