Archaeology

Head of a statue with a socket at the base of the neck in order to set it on the body. It is of the Alexandrine type attributed to the Greek sculptor Briaxis (4th century BC). The god has long wavy hair down either side of the face, a split beard and a small fringe, features that contrast with the beauty and serenity of the face, the half-open lips and the absent gaze, the iris and the pupils being marked by the use of concentric circles. On its head it wears a crown of oak leaves and, on top, the 'kalathos' with a five-leafed palm branch, a stylisation of the olive branch and the symbol of the deity that came originally from Ptolemaic Egypt and spread widely all over the Roman Empire. The use of the drill gives the sculpture volume through the play of light and shade.