Details

LOT 0124

Roman Marble Head of a Man in Relief

3RD-EARLY 4TH CENTURY A.D.

12 1/4 in. (9.85 kg, 31 cm).

Frieze fragment with bust of a male in animated pose, head tilted upwards and eyes wide open; the hair executed in successive curly waves around the thick brow, the broad nose merging into the small open mouth; short curly beard on the neck but face clean-shaven; with steel mounting rod beneath.

Provenance

Private collection of a sculptor, Munich; acquired in the 1970s on the Munich art market (Ohlendorf).

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate no.S00044779.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12478-228802.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Literature

For similar sculptures see Bianchi Bandinelli, R., Roma, la fine dell'arte antica, Milano, 1970, figs.2, 14; Castagnoli, F., Il Vaticano nell’Antichità Classica, Roma, 1992, pl.L, p.214, figs.97-99.

Footnotes

The subject seems to be a retainer of military commanders, usually represented on their sarcophagi in wild hunting parties where men, lions and boars fight. It is highly probable that the head was originally from a massive sarcophagus of a general, like the one in Palazzo Mattei in Rome.