Archaic II

Over-lifesize bearded head wearing a conical helmet

The beard assumes a roughly rectangular shape. It is composed of four smooth strands separated by incised lines and rounded off at the bottom. The lips show a faint smile. The short wide nose and the stiff mouth have been partially restored in plaster. The eyeballs, that which protrude more at the top than below, are in the shape of half-moons; the arch of the eyebrows follows that of the upper eyelids. Two earrings were probably attached to each schematic and partially broken earlobe. The very flat forehead is partly covered by the helmet, the peak of which curves in at the back of the head, that which is broken. Overall: 18 1/2 x 9 3/4 x 9 in. (47 x 24.8 x 22.9 cm)

Date

610 - 590 BC

Accession No.

74.51.2850

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

Sanctuary of Golgoi-Ayios Photios

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. XLIX.289, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1259, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Gjerstad, Einar. 1948. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition: The Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic, and Cypro-Classical Periods, Vol. 4(2). p. 96, Stockholm: The Swedish Cyprus Expedition.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 2, p. 31, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.