SEVERAN PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 2ND-EARLY 3RD CENTURY A.D.

The Hermes Propylaios ("Before the Gate") by the 5th century B.C. sculptor Alkamenes was seen at the entrance to the Athenian Acropolis by the Roman geographer Pausanias during his travels of the mid 2nd century (p. 268 in A. Stewart, Greek Sculpture). It featured a head of Hermes with an archaic-style beard and coiffure paired with a classically-modeled face surmounting a rectangular shaft embellished with a phallus. As Stewart informs (op. cit., p. 165), the form “imparted an aura of ancient sanctity appropriate to the guardians of an entrance dating to Mycenean times.” While Alkamenes' original sculpture does not survive, it is recognized in numerous Roman copies in marble, two of which bear inscriptions attributing the work to the Athenian sculptor (see nos. 42 and 47 in G. Siebert, “Hermes,” LIMC, vol. V).

In his definitive study of Hermes Propylaois, D. Willers (op. cit.) considered this head “one of the most idiosyncratic and interesting” variations of the type. The deep drilling of the inner canthi prompted Willers to see this as a Severan work. The archaeologist also mused that the “beneficent looking god’s head has been transformed into the face of a philosopher, without having to deviate even a little from the old form.” Despite this characterization, Willers concluded that it is nonetheless closer to Alkamenes’ original than many other examples listed in his study.