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Rupert Wace Ancient Art Limited
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Roman marble herm head
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Signed/Inscribed/Dated
Neo Attic
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Dimensions
39.40cm high
( 15.51 inches high)
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Provenance
private collection Japan
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Literature:
Cf. For a complete example of a similarly styled Herm, see Janet Burnett Grossman. 'Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone. A Guide to Terms, Styles and Techniques'. Los Angeles 2003, p. 52. See also p.11 for an example of an Archaistic statue of Dionysos in the same museum.
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Description / Expertise
Depicted with heavy lidded eyes beneath sharply modelled arching brows, the slope of the forehead merging with the straight nose. The smiling lips are emphasized by the long flowing moustache, which overlaps the ridged, projecting, pointed beard arranged as neat rows of flat, curled locks. A fillet and a wreath of leaves crown his long hair which is pulled back over his ears and falls down his back, with ties and locks of hair falling to the shoulders. Either side can be seen the remains of the carved sockets that would have allowed attachment of bosses, which would have supported wreaths and offerings to the god.
Stylistically this head deliberately looks back to Greek sculpture of the 5th century BC.
A herm was a pillar-like statue topped by a head of a bearded Hermes, and later by other gods such as Dionysos. Often situated at cross roads or as markers to estates they were identified with Hermes who protected travellers, and had a magical significance.
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