Roman Sculpture: Marble Head of a Child or Eros
Inv. No.: 98.002
Provenance: Roman (possibly from the Eastern Empire)
Date: Roman (possibly from the Eastern Empire)
Height: 189mm
Width: 162mm
Depth: 156mm
Gift of the Vice-Chancellor, John Hay, the Castlehow Bequest and an anonymous donor.
Head of a smiling infant of indeterminate gender with short curly hair, carved from fine-grained white marble. The face is squarish with rounded cheeks, a plump dimpled chin and a gently rounded forehead. The line of each eyebrow leads smoothly at its inner end into the side of a snub nose and the lips are slightly parted, revealing the teeth. Each of the large eyes has carefully carved upper and lower lids and accurate anatomical detail at the inner corner (canthus and lachrymal caruncle) while irises are indicated by outlined shallow depressions with a slightly deeper small round hole used for the pupil. The head is inclined slightly to its right and the gaze is directed upwards, revealing the white of the eye below the iris on each side. As well, the right eye seems to be turned slightly outwards. The bottom of each ear, including deeply carved ear holes, is visible below curls. The curls are arranged in bunches at the top and sides of the head. Lower relief curly locks radiate out from the centre of the back of the head forming a distinctive pattern. The neck has a squared off base, which is chipped on its right side. The bunch of curls on the right side of the forehead and another over the left ear are both damaged. There are some other small chips as well as a small dent above the inner end of the right eyebrow. Otherwise the piece is in good condition with only slight wear evident.
Function:
The presence of an individual peculiarity in the form of a slight squint in the right eye suggests that this may be a portrait statue of a child. If so, the upraised eyes are a conventional expression of spirituality. However, since funerary statues of young children are usually solemn this is probably not from a funerary monument. Furthermore, the mischievous expression and the treatment of the hair are more akin to those found in representations of Eros raising the possibility that the head may be from a statue of a boy child that is derived from Hellenistic statues of Eros, used as a garden ornament or tomb offering. The glance to the right may suggest that it originally formed part of a group or was derived from a group statue.
Manufacture:
A point or punch and hammer were used for the initial carving followed by finer work with flat and claw chisels. The drill was used for deeper carving of the hair, the nostrils, the inner corner of the eyes, the pupils, the mouth and the ears. Rasps and abrasives were used for final smoothing.
Bibliography:
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (1984), II, 1, "Venus Felix" type, 78-79.
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (1986), III, 1, "Eros", 850-1049.
Wood, S., Roman Portrait Sculpture 217-260 A.D.: The Transformation of an Artistic Tradition, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1986, especially 1-25.
Comparanda:
Comstock, M. B. and C. C. Vermeule, Sculpture in Stone: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 1976, Nos. 107, 197, 198, 204, 205.
Frel, J., Roman Portraits in the Getty Museum, exhibition catalogue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Philbrook Art Center, and Malibu, The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1981, No. 73 (Head of a little boy).
Kleiner, D. E. E. and S. B. Matheson (eds.), I Claudia: Women in Ancient Rome, New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, 1996, No. 76 (Portrait of a Boy).
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (1984), II, 2, Aphrodite 696-699 (with Eros).
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (1986), III, 2, Amor, Cupido 437.