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Lot Essay
It is difficult to determine whether this magnificent hollow-cast head was conceived as a votive statue of a youth or was meant to represent the god Apollo; the intricacy of the hairstyle might well point to the latter. Similar braided hairstyles are to be found on bronzes in Athens (BR 15161 and 45, Athens 689) but none of these have double tresses completely encircling the head or indeed an abundance of loose hair formed into curls as on the above head. For a Greek bronze head of Apollo of the same period, cf. the 'Chatsworth Apollo', dated to 460 B.C., found in 1836 and now in The British Museum. This also would have had inlaid eyes, perhaps in glass, marble or ivory.
The mid 5th Century B.C. was a time of the highest artistic achievement in Greece; many of the most famous sculptures of the time are known to us now only through copies and literary sources. The preferred medium of Classical sculptors was bronze, being so flexible and allowing freer compositions; however, few large Greek bronzes have survived, the great majority having been melted down during the Dark Ages and Mediaeval period.
This lot is accompanied by a certificate from The Art Loss Register.
See illustrations on following pages.
The mid 5th Century B.C. was a time of the highest artistic achievement in Greece; many of the most famous sculptures of the time are known to us now only through copies and literary sources. The preferred medium of Classical sculptors was bronze, being so flexible and allowing freer compositions; however, few large Greek bronzes have survived, the great majority having been melted down during the Dark Ages and Mediaeval period.
This lot is accompanied by a certificate from The Art Loss Register.
See illustrations on following pages.