Head of a Goddess

Head of a Goddess

The fragment is broken off on a slight diagonal across the middle of the neck. There appear to be the remains of two hands, much damaged, on either side of her head. The marble is from western Asia Minor.

The breaks suggest the head came from a rough statuette or relief, perhaps not fully finished, of Aphrodite holding her tresses. Face and eyes are carved and outlined in a sketchy fashion. The hair and the large crown (or extra mass of hair) are carved with equally sketchy parallel lines, designed to suggest strands of hair or the enrichment of the large diadem.

The head has a Syrian cast, placing the figure among late Hellenistic or Greek Imperial images of Aphrodite and Astarte.

Cornelius Vermeule and Amy Brauer