 |
|
Marble Female Head from a Statue
Egypt, said to have been found near Alexandria
Mid-3rd-2nd century
B.C.
H. 33.0 cm (13")
William Lowe Bryan Memorial, Gift of James Adams, 58.35
This idealized marble head recalls a late Classical Greek Aphrodite type,
but her style is Hellenistic: expression sweetened by soft modeling, deep-set
eyes with smoky gaze, sensuous mouth, quivering hair, and elongated neck.
The carving is done in techniques that were common in marble-deprived Egypt:
piecing and using substitutes for materials that were scarce. The head
was made separately for insertion into a statue that probably was made
of wood or stucco, rather than marble. As the head turns slightly to its
left, its unexposed rear and right side were left unfinished and truncated.
A substitute material, probably stucco, was used to fill out the marble
form. Such statues, it is thought, were painted for their final appearance,
with the colors defining the facial features and covering the difference
in materials.
|
