Head fragment (sculpture)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
Unknown
Materials
Marble
Measurements
295 mm (H)230 mm (W)
Order this imageCollection
Downhill, County Londonderry
NT 180519.3
Summary
Separately worked piece, representing the top of the head; this maybe entirely 18th century restoration. Part of Head of Apollo Lykeios recomposed of four fragments. Roman copy (first to second centuries AD) of a 4th century BC original attributed to the sculptor Praxiteles. The long hair and the head band are part of the iconography of Apollo, the god of the arts and archery. The projecting bun of hair which ends in twisted locks immediately identifies the head as a copy of a famous 4th c. BC statue of Apollo, the Apollo Lykeios. The statue depicted Apollo, weary from shooting arrows or playing his cithara, at rest with his arm over his head. This statue of Apollo, perhaps made in the 4th c. BC was popular with the Romans and was well-known in the 18th c. A passage in the writings of the second century AD author Lucian suggest that the original model was made by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles.