A Roman Head in Rochester

Abstract

T HE Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester has recently come into the possession of an interesting and unique head about whose origin little is known except that it is said have been found along the Appian Way. The head, which is certainly a portrait, has been broken off a full length statue or herm. In the course of its wanderings it has received harsh treatment -a deep ridge has been dug into the forepart of the bald crown, a chunk is broken away just above the left eye, the hair on the left side of the head has been damaged, and much of the nose is missing-but despite these mutilations it still displays full advantage the finished technique of the artist and preserves the original charm of its expression. The marble of the head, which measures 0.274 m. from the top of the crown the tip of the beard, is probably Pentelic. The hair, running around the bald crown and continuing into the full beard, is treated in the florid style characteristic of the late Antonine period;' the abundance of undercutting and the frequent use of the drill, together with the deeply cut socket of the eye, which indicates, more than any other feature, the age of the man,2 produce an unusual play of chiaroscuro over the surface, and a close examination of the crown reveals painstaking care in working out the transition between the hair and the bald portion of the head. Around the head and ears the hair comes out in curly locks, then moves on in undulating masses around the slightly drooping mouth and chin. The lightly indicated furrows of the forehead, curving in a line parallel the eyebrows, are more suggestive of incipient senility than of concentrated thought. The eyes with their brooding lids covering a good share of the iris, are the focal center of the face, for the eyeball, in spite of the heavy lid and the shadow of the socket which suggest the meditative philosopher, nevertheless shows the alertness of a ready thinker. A circle enclosing a slightly raised surface indicates the iris in which two small holes mark the pupil; some traces of color, especially on the right eye, still accent the iris. A few fine lines below the iris of the left eye show where the tool of the sculptor went astray in describing this feature of the eye. Around the mouth, whose upper lip is almost concealed by the overhanging hair, there hovers an air of expectancy, as if the man were on the point of speaking. The ears are wide and fully exposed view. The style of this head which represents an elderly man between fifty and sixty years of age, points the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius (ca. A.D. 180). The execution of the hair and beard is similar that of the portrait of the Emperor3 without being as ornate and obvious in detail as that of Commodus.4 The treatment of the eye is also characteristic of the period, especially the two small holes in the pupil to indicate the points of light.5