• r2-89-10
    Upper portion of a female head, frontal view. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)

Upper Portion of a Female Head

Date
Roman
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
S65.008
Material
Marble, Stone
Object Type
Sculpture
Sculpture Type
Portrait
Site
Sardis
Sector
Syn
Trench
Syn 65
B-Grid Coordinates
E106 / N29.30 *97 - 96.75
Findspot
Syn N colonnade.
Description

This fragmentary head was a portrait of a young woman. The brow is made by a sharp angle, yet implies the bone structure beneath, particularly near the temples. The eyes are well modeled, with a flesh-like upper lid and a fold between lid and brow. The pupils are drilled into a bean shape, and the drill was used also at the inner corner. The forehead is extremely smooth. The hair flows from the center part (now missing) in small waves which were deeply drilled.

The use of a bean-shaped pupil, but with no indication of the iris, is found on numerous heads of the Antonine period (e.g. Crispina, İnan-Rosenbaum, Portrait Sculpture Asia Minor, no. 57, pl. 36:1) and the heavy fleshy fold between lid and brow also dates to this period (ibid., no. 309, pl. 174:2). The hairdo seems to be the type found on Faustina the Younger and other Antonine ladies (ibid., no. 287, pl. 163), so that the dating of the Sardis piece should fall within this period.

Condition

Fine white marble, small crystals.

Preserved are most of both eyes, forehead, and fragments of hair.

Dimensions
H. 0.13; W. 0.14; D. 0.09
Comments
See Also
Bibliography
Published: BASOR182, 39, fig. 32. For other Antonine ladies with similar eyes İnan-Rosenbaum, Portraits Asia Minor, no. 265, pl. 144:3; and no. 287, pl. 163:1.
Author
NHR