Statue of Artemis, torso with not-original head
This bust was reconstructed from about ten original pieces and numerous new components. It was probably part of a statue of Artemis the huntress, as indicated by the strap slung over her shoulder, which suggests there was a quiver on her back. The head, which is ancient but not original, is marked by the intense, expressive gaze of the figure’s large bulging eyes, sunk into the deeply curved eye sockets, which vaguely recall certain Hellenistic portraits from the Ptolemaic milieu. The complex hairstyle, with the hair pulled back in wavy bands and gathered at the back of the head in a knot, has been linked to works from the first half of the fourth century BCE. Various technical and formal considerations suggest a date for the torso and the head in the second century CE.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
Classification
Medium
Large-grain white marble (torso); white marble (head)
Dimensions
height bust 23 cm; head 20 cm
Provenance
Borghese Collection, cited for the first time in the Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese, 1833, C, p. 41, no. 9 (portico). Purchased by the Italian State, 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
- 1990/91 - Istituto Centrale del Restauro
- 2008 - Consorzio Capitolino
Commentary
This female bust, of unknown provenance, was mentioned for the first time in the Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese of 1833 as one of sixteen displayed on corbels in the vestibule, where it is still on view today.
Reconstructed from about ten original pieces and numerous new components (right breast, arms, back portions of the shoulders), it was probably part of a statue of Artemis the huntress, as indicated by the shoulder strap, worn over a sleeveless chiton, which suggests there was a quiver on her back.
The head, which is ancient but not original, was probably attached to the bust when it was restored in the nineteenth century, in view of its display in the vestibule of the Casino. The intense, expressive gaze of the large bulging eyes, with thick, pronounced eyelids and sunk into deeply curved eye sockets, weighed down by swollen upper eyelids, vaguely recalls certain Hellenistic portraits from the Ptolemaic milieu, such as the marble head of Arsinoe III of the Serapeum of Alexandria (217–204 BCE) (Alexandria, Museo Nazionale, inv. 3908; Brophy 2015, p. 144, no. 75). The elongated oval face has a high triangular forehead. The complex hairstyle, with the hair slightly lifted up in front and pulled back in wavy bands and gathered at the back of the head in a knot, has been linked to a similar sculpture in Munich (Schmidt 1932, p. 239, figs. 20–21) and a Muse type documented in a torso in the Golitzin Collection in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg (Picard 1948, pp. 796ff, figs. 357–358) and a head in the Liechtenstein Collection, Vienna (Picard 1948, pp. 800ff, figs. 359, 361). These works, datable to the first half of the fourth century BCE, are believed to have been the model for the Melonenfrisur used by the Athens sculptor Silanion for female figures in the Classical period.
Various technical and formal considerations suggest a date for the Borghese bust and head in the second century CE.
Jessica Clementi
Bibliography
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 12.
- E Schmidt, Silanion der Meister des Platonbildes, in «Jahrbuch des deutschen archäologischen Instituts», XLVI, 1932, pp. 239-303.
- Ch. Picard, Manuel d'Archéologie grecque. La sculpture. IV. Période classique. IV e siècle, I, Paris 1948.
- R. Calza, Catalogo del Gabinetto fotografico Nazionale, Galleria Borghese, Collezione degli oggetti antichi, Roma 1957, p. 9, n. 37.
- P. Moreno, Museo e Galleria Borghese. La collezione archeologica, Roma 1980, p. 29.
- P. Moreno, S. Staccioli, Le collezioni della Galleria Borghese, Milano 1981, p. 101.
- P. Moreno, A. Viacava, I marmi antichi della Galleria Borghese. La collezione archeologica di Camillo e Francesco Borghese, Roma 2003, p. 104, n. 67.
- E. Brophy, Royal Statues in Egypt 300 BC-AD 220. Context and Function, Oxford 2015, p. 144, n. 75.
- Scheda di catalogo 12/ 01008309, P. Moreno 1976; aggiornamento G. Ciccarello 2021.
