On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Fossilized sea sponge head of a figure
Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy
This head of a figure, carved from fossilized sea sponge, may be from an acrolith. The backward-tilted lyre shaped head has a robust rounded chin and top. The long and narrow relief nose, which sits high on the face, has an odd-looking loss at the tip. The long upward tapering thick neck is bulbous at the base where it could have fit into a body made of another material.
The surface is weathered with both pits and raised banding, due to differential weathering of the fabric. Accretions are scattered over the entire surface, including the end of the neck. The weathering makes it difficult to discern any traces of ancient painting, although there may be a polos ghost; a change of pattern at the top of the head seems distinct from the pronounced banding due to weathering. It is very unusual to have an Early Cycladic figure made of fossilized sponge and this head of a possible acrolith is unique.
Georgios Gavalas, Sandy MacGillivray, Dorothy Abramitis and Elizabeth Hendrix
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