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Marble head of Athena: The so-called Athena Medici

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Marble head of Athena: The so-called Athena Medici

Period:
Mid-Imperial, Antonine period
Date:
ca. A.D. 138-92
Culture:
Roman
Medium:
Marble
Dimensions:
H.: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm)
Classification:
Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 2007
Accession Number:
2007.293

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 153

  • Description

    Copy of a Greek statue of ca. 430 B.C. attributed to Pheidias

    This head is from a fine Roman copy of an over-life-sized statue of the goddess Athena which has long been attributed to Pheidias, the most famous artist of that period. The eyes were once inset with colored stones. The head retains part of the frontlet and neck guard of an Attic helmet that was originally completed in wood and gilded. This combination of marble and wood, whereby the drapery and attributes such as the helmet were worked in wood and gilded while the flesh parts were carved in marble, is known as the acrolithic technique. It imitated the appearance of immensely valuable gold and ivory statues, such as the great Athena Parthenos that stood inside the Parthenon in Athens and the colossal seated statue of Zeus at Olympia.

  • References

    Hamilton Easter Field, ed. The Arts, vol. 2, no. 4, Februrary 20, 1922. Photograph of the head of Athena with the title "Greek Head - Unknown Artist; Collection of Hamilton Easter Field."

    Amelung, W. 1925. "Zum Kopftypus der Athena Medici." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts: Roemische Abteilung, XL, pp. 137-138, pls. IX, X.

    Chamoux, F. 1944-1945. "Le type de la Minerve Ingres." Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, LXVIII-LXIX: 217 no. 12.

    1954. Ancient Art in American Private Collections: A Loan Exhibition at The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. Cambridge, Mass., p. 27, no. 148, pl. XXXIX, fig. 148.

    Aurenhammer, M. 1985. "Athena Medici in Ephesos." In Lebendige Altertumswissenschaft, Festschrift H. Vetters. Vienna, p. 214, n. 2.

    Picón, Carlos A. 2008. "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection, 2007-2008." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 66(2): p. 8.

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    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
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