Head of a horned youth wearing a diadem
Marble.Greek, Hellenistic, 3rd—2nd cent. BCE. Inv. No. 2012.479.10.New York, Metropolitan Museum of ArtPhoto by Ilya Shurygin
Head of a horned youth wearing a diadem.
Marble.
Greek, Hellenistic, 3rd—2nd cent. BCE.
Greek, Hellenistic, 3rd—2nd cent. BCE.
Inv. No. 2012.479.10.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Origin:
Gift of Renee E. and Robert A. Belfer, 2012.
Description:
The youth portrayed in this fine head wears a diadem and originally had a conspicuous pair of bull’s horns. The latter were attached by means of marble dowels, which were secured with lead and stuccoed over. Among early Hellenistic kings, bull’s horns were a popular attribute with strong associations to the god Dionysos. Therefore, this is probably the portrait of a divinized Hellenistic ruler. The first king to wear bull’s horns, thereby establishing the trend, was the Antigonid Demetrios Poliorketes (306—283 B. C.), who was dubbed the “new Dionysos”.
Credits:
Keywords: γλυπτική sculptura sculpture sculptural scultura skulptur greek greca greco greche griechische griechisches grecque grecquesё κεφάλι head testa kopf tête ελληνική φιγούρα figures greeks figura figure greci figur figuren grieche griechen grecques grec grecs ελληνική μυθολογία mythologia graeca mythology mitologia mythologie διώνυσος dionysus dioniso dionysos of a man male maschile uomo männliches mann masculin un homme portraitkopf unknown sconosciuto sconosciuta unbekannt unbekannte inconnu inconnue ελληνιστικός ηγέτης hellenistic ruler sovrano ellenistico hellenistischer herrscher règle hellénistique marble marmo marmor marbre μάρμαρο youth young giovane junge adolescent νεαρός diadem diadème diadema διάδημα hairstyle pettinatura herren-frisur coiffure masculine horn horns corno corni hörner corne cornes horned wearing inv no 2012.479.10
