CIRCA LATE 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF EURIPIDES
CIRCA LATE 2ND CENTURY A.D.
10 in. (25.3 cm.) high

Provenance

English private collection, acquired in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
David Cambridge, Cheltenham.
with Galerie Chenel, Paris, acquired from the above in 1998.
French private collection, acquired from the above in 1999/2000.
Ancient Marbles, Classical Sculpture and works of art; Sotheby's, London, 13 June 2016, lot 49.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Claudio Corsi Specialist, Head of Department

ccorsi@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2607

Lot Essay

Euripides is here portrayed as an elderly man with full beard and long hair forming compact, slightly wavy strands, radiating from a single point at the back of the head and combed forwards over the forehead. See G.M.A. Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks, Vol. I, London, 1965, pp. 133-140, illus. 717-767 for an overview of the known ancient copies of the portrait of Euripides.

Euripides was a classical Athenian playwright and one of the three great tragedians of ancient Greece, alongside Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born in 480 B.C., his work is renowned for its complex characters and psychological depth, often exploring the darker aspects of human nature and societal norms. Euripides' plays, such as Medea, The Bacchae, and Hippolytus, are marked by their innovative use of mythological themes to comment on contemporary issues.

More from Antiquities

View All