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Portrait head of a high official
Byzantine
Early Byzantine Period
late 4th–5th century
Place of Manufacture: Italy (probably)
Medium/Technique
Marble from Mt. Pentelikon near Athens
Dimensions
Height: 43 cm (16 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Heinz Herzer
Accession Number1977.656
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), no. 052.
DescriptionThe rotund forms of this over-life-size head seem to be a revival of portraiture of the Flavian period of the late first century A.D. A retrospective image of the popular emperor Titus (A.D. 79-81) may have been intended. The simplified surfaces and the apprehensive expression, however, are clearly products of the century that saw the collapse of the Roman Empire in Italy. Additional evidence for a later date is the wreath hairstyle popular in the late fourth and fifth centuries. The portrait was made to be inserted into a draped statue.
The head has been re-cut. On the right side, the hollow of inner ear is far too high on the head, and the missing outer shell of the ear seems to have been removed. Traces of a beard can be felt on the right cheek. On the left side a long sideburn reflects the original form of a beard. On the neck, along the proper right front, are raised areas of marble, which appear to have been points of attachment of beard. At the center of the neck are the ghosts of six diagonal channels; the drill was probably used to remove beard hair.
The head, though badly worn, is completely preserved with its socket. Only the nose is missing. The surface is badly worn and has brown striations, presumably burial contact with water and iron. The edge of the back of the socket rises sharply to almost the top of the nape of the neck. At the front of the socket a small V-shaped area of chest is preserved.
Scientific Analysis:
University of South Florida Lab No. 8446: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.8 / delta18O -6.7,
Attribution - Mt. Pentelikon (near Athens). Justification - C and O isotopes, fine grain, brown spots.
The head has been re-cut. On the right side, the hollow of inner ear is far too high on the head, and the missing outer shell of the ear seems to have been removed. Traces of a beard can be felt on the right cheek. On the left side a long sideburn reflects the original form of a beard. On the neck, along the proper right front, are raised areas of marble, which appear to have been points of attachment of beard. At the center of the neck are the ghosts of six diagonal channels; the drill was probably used to remove beard hair.
The head, though badly worn, is completely preserved with its socket. Only the nose is missing. The surface is badly worn and has brown striations, presumably burial contact with water and iron. The edge of the back of the socket rises sharply to almost the top of the nape of the neck. At the front of the socket a small V-shaped area of chest is preserved.
Scientific Analysis:
University of South Florida Lab No. 8446: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.8 / delta18O -6.7,
Attribution - Mt. Pentelikon (near Athens). Justification - C and O isotopes, fine grain, brown spots.
ProvenanceBy 1968, Antiken Heinz Herzer, Munich [see note]; 1977, gift of Antiken Heinz Herzer to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 14, 1977)
NOTE: Advertised in Apollo, June 1968, p. cix. Many thanks to Jörg Deterling for locating this reference.
NOTE: Advertised in Apollo, June 1968, p. cix. Many thanks to Jörg Deterling for locating this reference.