Lot 28
  • 28

A Marble Head of the Goddess Artemis, Early Roman Imperial, circa 1st Century A.D.

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 USD
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Description

  • A Marble Head of the Goddess Artemis
  • Marble
  • Height 11½ in. 29.2 cm.
ultimately inspired by a Classical sculpture of the 4th Century B.C., in the tradition of Praxiteles, the goddess turned to her right, her youthful face with full slightly-parted lips and finely carved almond-shaped eyes, the hair parted in the center and drawn back in thick wavy tresses to a prominent cylindrical chignon tied in a fillet. 

Provenance

Mrs. H. Hathaway, California (Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, February 25th, 1971, no. 248, cover illus.)
Ruth L. Harvey (d. 1990), Los Angeles, who helped found the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Music Center

 

Catalogue Note

The present head appears to be close in spirit to the Artemis of Dresden (cf. G.E. Rizzo, Prassitele, Milan, 1932, pls. XVI-XVIII, and A. Pasquier and J.-L. Martinez, Praxitèle, Paris, 2007, no. 79); her unusual tightly-wound chignon would be appropriate for Artemis in an action pose, her hair kept out of the way during the hunt.