A LATE HELLENISTIC MARBLE HEAD

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.

Details

A LATE HELLENISTIC MARBLE HEAD
circa 2nd century b.c.
Perhaps depicting a giant, the powerfully expressive head thrown back and inclined to the left, the muscles of the neck taut from the movement, the face with strongly modelled, undulating brows, the large, deep-set, bulging eyes recessed for now-missing inlays, with a large straight nose and square chin, the upper row of teeth visible within his parted lips, the face framed by Alexander-esque upswept wavy locks, a tendril in shallow relief along the proper right side of the neck, the now-missing hair at the top of the head originally finished in a separately carved stone, the back of the head hollowed out, suggesting this was once located against or near a wall
15 in. (38.1 cm) high

Lot Essay

The style of this magnificant colossal head, with its knotted brow and exagerated expression, finds its closest parallels with the so-called "baroque" style of the High Hellenistic period of circa 200-150 B.C. Compare for example the heads of defeated Celts which were originally part of a Pergamene dedication on the Athenian Acropolis, known from Roman copies now in Venice and Paris, nos. 689-691 in Stewart, Greek Sculpture. The same expression is met on the heads of Laocon and his sons on the famous group now in the Vatican, no. 146 in Havelock, Hellenistic Art. Closest to the present head are the giants, such as Alkyoneus, from the Gigantomachy frieze of the "Great Altar" of Pergamon, no. 696 in Stewart, Greek Sculpture.
The style was much admired by the Romans, as can be seen with the famous Polyphemus group from Sperlonga, persumably dating from the reign of Tiberius.

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