HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY B.C.

The style of this head closely recalls the famous Demeter from Knidos, now in the British Museum, (pl. 79 in Ridgway, Fourth-Century Styles in Greek Sculpture). The present head differs in that her hair is bound in a fillet. For similar hair compare the head of Dionysos from the West Pediment of the Temple of Apollo, Delphi, and a head of "Ariadne" from the south slope of the Acropolis, Athens (pls. 3 and 172 in Ridgway, Hellenistic Sculpture I, The Styles of 331-200 B.C.), although neither head is veiled. For other veiled heads of Demeter compare nos. 70-71, 83, and 191 in Beschi, "Demeter," LIMC.