Further images
A most beautiful rendering of a young woman. Unlike many Greek terracottas this is freely modelled by hand and not created from a mould. The incised strands of hair are particularly delightful, as is her aloof yet benign expression.
The head is solid, fully modelled in the round, and formed of a micaceous clay, typical of the surroundings of Rome, or the region of the so-called Colli Albani south of Rome with important sites such as Ardea, Lanuvium and Nemi, or - more probably - Southern Etruria, in the area reaching from Caere (Cerveteri) to Falerii (Civita Castellana, 60 km north of Rome). The surface has been smoothed and traces of closely spaced parallel lines show where it has been scraped by a lightly toothed comb whilst the clay was still damp.
This head likely belonged to a fully hand-made acroterion set on the apex of the pediment from a small temple. The darkening of the red paint to her veil and to the back of the diadem would indicate that the temple was destroyed and burnt, the the head falling in a way that protected its face from the fire. The white gesso over the face and neck indicates that at a later point the original yellow was over-painted.
Our thanks to Dr Rudolf Kanel for his help in cataloguing this head.
Provenance
19th century collection; previously fitted on a 19th century red velvet-covered baseButterfield & Butterfield, Los Angeles, USA, 19th-20th March 1990
Private collection, Beverly Hills, USA; acquired from the above
Literature
The tool marks to the surface of the face are similar to those seen to the right cheek, eyebrows and across the bridge of the nose on the large terracotta head of Tinia, the Etruscan equivalent of Zeus, now in Munich Antikensammlungen, Germany, no.5520
There is a polychrome terracotta female head, now in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, USA, accession number 48.310, which exhibits in its fluidity of modelling a strong similarity, especially in the hair, although the head is not completely finished in the round.
