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Marble head of a figure

Cycladic

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 171

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy

This fine-grained (maximum grain size ≈ 1.5 mm) white marble head and most of the neck are all that survive from a figure that would been approximately 70 cm high. There is a repair through the top of the neck, as well as painted fills on the top corners of the head and over the gouge on the back of the head. The lyre-shaped head, tilted back, has a slightly rounded crown and chin. A long, thin, aquiline nose in relief is well-centered at the brow. The incised groove that distinguishes the chin from the neck continues around the back to form a v-shaped nape. Close inspection of the differential weathering of calcite crystals on the head reveals traces of two almond-shaped eyes on the face with the lower part of a large, circular pupil in the left eye, and traces of a headdress or gathered hair at the back.


Sandy MacGillivray, Dorothy Abramitis, Federico Carò and Elisabeth Hendrix

Marble head of a figure, Marble, Cycladic

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