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Bronze Portrait Head from Delos

Most portrait sculptures of the Hellenistic period were either heroic, like the ones of Alexander the Great, or in the “psychological” style of Demosthenes. This bronze portrait of an unknown man is a fusion of the two styles; a heroic demeanor combined with an expressive facial treatment.

The western Aegean island of Delos was under Athenian control at the time, and it is thought that this portrait, one of a group from that period on the island, was a commission by a merchant or official grown wealthy through the patronage of Athens

Number: 
511
Material: 
Bronze
Location of Original: 

Athens, National Museum 14612

Size: 
0.35m
References: 

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 369 (n.12), pl.133.1
Homolle & Holleaux: Delos, fasc. XIII, 1-5, pls.I-VI
Pollitt: Art in the Hellenistic Age, 71, pl.72
Richter: The Portraits of the Greeks, 52, & pl.18

Date: 
Mid to late C2 BCE
Provenance: 

Found in the old Palaistra (school of wrestling) on Delos

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