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_900x900.jpg "Roman Marble Head of Euripides")
_200x200.jpg "Roman Marble Head of Euripides")
.jpg "Roman Marble Head of Euripides")
LOT 0143
Roman Marble Head of Euripides
2ND CENTURY A.D.
9 7/8 in. (7.46 kg, 25 cm).
An impressive carved herm of the tragic author of the tragic author Euripides, portrayed as an elderly man with full beard and long hair forming compact, slightly wavy strands, radiating from a single point at the back of the head and combed forwards over the forehead; heavy brow and small mouth; cracked and repaired.
ProvenanceEnglish private collection, acquired in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
David Cambridge, Cheltenham.
with Galerie Chenel, Paris, acquired from the above in 1998.
French private collection, acquired from the above in 1999/2000.
Ancient Marbles, Classical Sculpture and works of art; Sotheby's, London, 13 June 2016, no.49.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12191-222443.
Cf. for the famous copy in Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli see Gasparri, C., (ed.), Le sculture Farnese, vol.2, 2009, pp.32ff., no.14, pl.14; cf. Richter, G.M.A., The Portraits of the Greeks, Vol. I, London, 1965, pp.133-140, illus.717-767, for an overview of the known ancient copies of the portrait of Euripides; among them we remember the one of the Getty Museum (inv. no.79.AA.133), a Roman copy from Lesbos dated at 2nd century A.D., in Antonaccio, C. M. ‘Style, Reuse, and Context in a Roman Portrait at Princeton,’ in Archaeologischer Anzeiger 3, (1992), pp.414-452, p.449, no.30.
FootnotesEuripides was a classical Athenian playwright and one of the three great tragedians of ancient Greece, alongside Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born in 480 B.C., his work is renowned for its complex characters and psychological depth, often exploring the darker aspects of human nature and societal norms. Euripides' plays, such as Medea, The Bacchae, and Hippolytus, are marked by their innovative use of mythological themes to comment on contemporary issues.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0143
Roman Marble Head of Euripides
Estimate £18,000 - 24,000€20,880 - 27,840 (for guidance only)$24,300 - 32,400 (for guidance only)
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Roman Amber Coloured Glass Bead Necklace Group
1st-4th century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £46
Comprising three necklaces restrung from beads of drilled ancient glass bangle fragments. 29 grams total, 64-71 cm
UK gallery, early 2000s. -
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Larger Than Life-Size Roman Bronze Sandaled Foot
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39,000
Modelled in the round and originally part of a monumental statue, the naturalistic right foot encased in a trochades leather sandal with median reversed tongue secured with side straps and thick looped laces; the thick platform sole slightly curved, toes and nails well defined; mounted on a substantial custom-made display stand. 5.84 kg total, foot: 30 cm wide
German art market. European private collection, 1970s-early 2000s. Acquired from the above; thence by descent. Private collection, London, UK. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12176-221443.
The detailed bronze foot with a possible variant of the Greek trochades sandal, known to be a traveller's sandal, is all that remains of the once monumental statue. The trochades was a sturdy traveller's open boot of Greek origin with a flat sole. In the Consular Age it was also used by officers and guardsmen. Roman sandals consisted usually of a leather sole attached to the foot with interlacing thongs. -
Roman Bronze Bust of Mars
Circa 2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Highly detailed bearded head with thick hair locks surmounted by a pseudo-Corinthian helmet with high crest; the breast covered by a scale armour (squama) fitted with shoulder-guards. 82 grams, 75 mm
From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968.
The pseudo-Corinthian or Apulo-Corinthian helmet, here worn by the divinity, was originally a legionary helmet, which transformed in the late Consular Age into an officer's helmet, to become a typical attribute of the commanders and then of the war god.
