Rome, Republic Period, ca. 4th to 2nd century BCE. A mold-made earthenware head of a male youth with finely rendered naturalistic features, wearing a cap or hood over his curly coiffure. Republican verism or realism in sculptural portraiture most likely reflected the Roman belief that a person's individuality could be communicated via his or her facial features. This was in contrast to the earlier Greek understanding that the essence of an individual resided in both the head and the body. Hence, the Romans believed that emphasis should be placed on the face, and therefore realistic renditions of facial features differentiated people and created records of their specific individual traits. According to reputable Roman scholars, the Romans' emphasis on realism in portraiture had no counterpart in other contemporary cultures; however, it drew influence from earlier sources, including Etruscan and Hellenistic visual culture. Size: 4.25" H (10.8 cm)

Provenance: private Owen collection, New Jersey, USA, acquired in the 1990s from a US-based dealer; ex-estate of an American artist resident in Rome just after the war, brought to the US ca. 1960

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#128991

Losses to neckline - possibly indicating a section from a larger figure. Expected surface wear with white sea encrustation.