Bronze Head In The Antique Style Mounted On A Pedestal, 20th Century

- Bronze head in the antique style, mounted on a pedestal; a 20th-century work.

- This sculpture follows the tradition of ancient portraiture, whose iconography has its roots in Greek art. The idealized subject has regular features, a slender, straight nose, and thick, curly hair... This hollow sculpture mimics the production of bronze statues from Greco-Roman antiquity, which were created using the lost-wax casting process. The empty spaces left for the eyes suggest missing inlays, much like ancient bronze portraits whose eyes were inlaid with polychrome glass.

- The ancient models that inspired the creator of this sculpture are comparable to works such as the Basel Head, a piece among the treasures from the Porticello shipwreck dating from the 5th–4th centuries B. BC and housed at the Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, viewable at this link or this Roman plaster cast from the Louvre, which can be viewed at link.

- Despite the idealization of its features, this head exudes an aura of power and a distinct presence, leaving us pondering its identity. Is this a depiction of a deity, a mythological figure, a philosopher, or a ruler?

- Dimensions - Height (with base): 37.5 cm / Height (without base): 23.5 cm / Width: 15 cm / Depth: 19 cm