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Greek

Head of a woman, ca. 420 BCE

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Greek

Title

Head of a woman

Year

ca. 420 BCE

Medium

Marble

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • island marble

Dimensions

25.7 x 18.6 x 22.2 cm (10 1/8 x 7 5/16 x 8 13/16 inches)

Place

Athens, said to be from Athens

Type

  • Sculpture

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

55.027

Projects & Publications

Publications

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Classical Sculpture

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

An Exhibition of Classical Antiquities

September 1, 1981 - April 1, 1982

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries

Rarely does an object from antiquity survive in its original condition. The lips, eyes, and hair of this head of a woman were once painted, but the pigments have worn away over the centuries. A diadem or crown, perhaps of silver or gold, would have been fastened to the hair through the drilled holes visible behind the temples. This head was probably once part of a statue group from the pediment of a Greek temple. A viewer in antiquity would have seen it from below and from some distance. Vivid paint and a metallic diadem would have rendered the head more visually coherent and lifelike from afar.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Head of a woman with the accession number of 55.027. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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