LOT 0134

Roman Marble Head of Eros

EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.

9 in. (1.71 kg total, 23 cm high including stand).

With long, curly hair braided over the forehead and top of the head, turned to the left and slightly inclined; round fleshy face with narrow, almond-shaped eyes; possibly from a copy of 'Eros Stringing his Bow' by Lysippos (3rd quarter of the 4th cent. B.C.); mounted on a custom-made stand.

Private American collection, circa 1960.
with Sotheby's, New York, 6 December 2006, no.128B.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13538-263101.

Cf. statue of Eros bending his bow, in the British Museum, London, accession no.1812,0615.4.

The original Greek work that may have inspired the Roman sculptors could be a sculpture by the 4th-century B.C. artist Lysippos, who created the cult statues of Eros at Thespiae. Various copies are preserved of this artwork, like the one in the National Museum of Liverpool (2nd century A.D., inv. no.59.148.93) and the one in the Hermitage Museum (inv. no. Гр. 3102 [А 199]).