CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

The use of basalt in Roman art became extremely popular under the emperor Augustus, where the medium soon became equated with paradigms of artistic excellence: particularly difficult to work due to its hardness, Roman sculptors of basalt achieved high levels of detail and finesse, with works usually commissioned by Rome's imperial elite. (Cf. M. de Nuccio and L. Ungaro, i marmi colorati della Roma imperiale, Rome, 2002, p. 88). Basalt had a long tradition of usage in Egypt, with Augustan Egyptomania encouraging its continued vogue under the Empire. A Roman basalt herm found in Egypt and now in the British Museum suggests that this head may also be from Egypt (cf. British Museum, 1897,0511.207).