Head of a Goddess
| Artist | |
| Name | Unknown |
| Basic Info | |
| Period | Hellenistic period, Late, to Early Roman Imperial |
| Century | 1st century BCE-1st century CE |
| Culture | Greek |
| Dimensions | 6 x 10 cm (2 3/8 x 3 15/16 in.) |
| Harvard Museum | |
| Department | Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics |
| Division | Asian and Mediterranean Art |
| Contact | am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu |
Context
75 Head of a Goddess The fragment is broken off on a slight diagonal across the middle of the neck. There appear to be the remains of two hands, much damaged, on either side of her head. The marble is from western Asia Minor. The breaks suggest the head came from a rough statuette or relief, perhaps not fully finished, of Aphrodite holding her tresses. Face and eyes are carved and outlined in a sketchy fashion. The hair and the large crown (or extra mass of hair) are carved with equally sketchy parallel lines, designed to suggest strands of hair or the enrichment of the large diadem. The head has a Syrian cast, placing the figure among late Hellenistic or Greek Imperial images of Aphrodite and Astarte. Cornelius Vermeule and Amy Brauer
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and its Vicinity