Head Of A Barbarian Wearing A Phrygian Cap - 19th Century Work

Head of a barbarian wearing a Phrygian cap
19th century work Marble

Height of head alone: 30 cm
Total height with base: 45 cm

This marble sculpture represents the head of a barbarian, identifiable by his Phrygian cap - a conical headdress with a flexible point folded forward - typical of representations of oriental populations in Greco-Roman iconography.

This type of headgear, often associated with the Phrygians, Thracians or Parthians, was frequently used to designate exotic or marginal figures in ancient imagery, such as prisoners, mercenaries or peripheral peoples of the Empire.

The face, with its accentuated features, is structured by abundant curly hair and a compact beard, forming a dense frame that reinforces the expression of the physiognomy. The gaze is deep, slightly turned downwards, the brow ridges marked, and the lips parted, giving the whole a silent presence, halfway between restraint and inner tension.

The volumes, although stylized, reveal a search for contrast between the modeling of the face and the texture of the cap. This type of representation, without faithfully reproducing an individual portrait, participates in a historicist aesthetic specific to the 19th century, which draws on the codes of antiquity to reconstitute typical figures, willingly idealized.

The whole is part of a production of erudite decorative sculptures, responding to a neo-classical or romantic taste for oriental references and figures from antiquity.