Archaistic Marble Head of a Kore

Culture: Roman

Period: 1st century B.C. to 1st century A.D.

Material: Marble

Dimensions: 13.8 cm high

Price: 32 000 Euro

Ref: 3628

Provenance: From the private collection of a Belgian diplomat. Thence Artcurial auction Paris on 23 May 2017, lot 38 (there described as Cypriot and dated to the archaic period). Last in the German private collection A. M., Germany.

Condition: Except for minor wear on the diadem and on the tip of the nose intact.

Description: Finely worked out Roman head of a Kore in archaic style. The face with almond-shaped eyes under thick lids, the mouth formed to a smile, the cheek bones high, the nose long and pointy. The Kore wears a high towering, semi-circular diadem, underneath her finely braided curls vertically cascading to the forehead. From the curls protruding ears are adorned with large, round earrings. Close, parallel curls running down the nape. On the calotte and at the back of the head, encircled by the tiara, corkscrew curls are arranged closely together. The marble head dates to the Roman period and orients towards the Greek originals dating to the archaic period, especially to the archaic Kore heads from the temple of Apollo Ptoios in Boeotia. The archaistic style was popular during the Augustan period, with archaic statues appearing on coins of Augustus and becoming somewhat synonymous with imperial reign. The emerging artistic trend reflected the Roman admiration for the Greek achievements, but this cultural appropriation also demonstrated that Rome was displacing Greece as the dominant political and cultural force in the Mediterranean. See also for the typus Christie’s auction London on 6 July 2016, lot 81. Mounted.