This head shows a great resemblance to a head on a coin found near Olympia. From the inscription on the coin we know that the head is of the cult statue of Zeus in his temple at Olympia by Pheidias, which was lost in antiquity. Combined with literary evidence, this head gives us a good idea of what the cult statue looked like
Number:
198
Material:
Marble
Location of Original:
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 25
Size:
0.49m
Accession:
Purchased in 1929
References:
Comstock & Vermeule: Sculpture in Stone, Catalogue of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 33, no.44
Caskey: Catalogue of Greek and Roman Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 59, no.25
Date:
c. 350-340 BCE
Provenance:
Mylasa in Caria (south west Turkey). Later in the EP Warren collection
