Greek

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.