The Collection
The American Wing Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Asian Art The Cloisters The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Robert Lehman Collection The Libraries Medieval Art Musical Instruments Photographs Antonio Ratti Textile Center Modern and Contemporary Art

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.

Marble head of a figure

ca. 2500-2400/2300 BCE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 151

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy

This fine-grained white marble head and part of the neck are all that survive from a figure that would have measured ca. 72.0 cm high. The tilted backward head is lyre-shaped with a broad rounded chin and a long, wedge-shaped nose on the otherwise smooth facial plane. The top of the head is flat. A thin curved shallow groove delineates the head from the long cylindrical neck at the back.
There are ghosts of four possible eyes, two on right the side of the face and two on the left, the latter the result of differential weathering of calcite crystals. There are also vestiges of a squared-off hair ghost at the back of the head and a zig zag pattern at the top of the forehead.

Georgios Gavalas, Sandy MacGillivray, Dorothy Abramitis, Wendy Walker and Elizabeth Hendrix

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence (UVL) shows repairs were done to the nose and upper right corner of the head.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence (UVL) shows repairs were done to the upper right corner of the head.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

The possible presence of ghost eyes is visible under normal illumination.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Digitally enhanced ultraviolet-reflected false color image. Red arrows point to possible ghost eyes and yellow arrow points to zig zag pattern. The two lower arrows point to the outlines of a single eye.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

The possible presence of ghost eyes is indicated in red.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Micrograph taken with a binocular microscope using raking light and showing the differential weathering of calcite crystals that follows the pattern of the proper left eye that was originally painted or possibly inscribed on the marble surface. The height of the image is approximately 1 cm.

Title: Marble head of a figure

Period: Early Cycladic II

Date: ca. 2500-2400/2300 BCE

Culture: Cycladic

Medium: Marble

Dimensions: Height: 7 3/16 in. (18.2 cm)
Width: 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm)
Depth: 2 3/8 in. (6 cm)
Thickness: 2 in. (5.1 cm)

Classification: Stone Sculpture

Credit Line: Leonard N. Stern Collection, Loan from the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Culture

Object Number: L.2022.38.105

The Met

Greek and Roman Art at The Met

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.