On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Marble head of a figure
Technical analysis: Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence examination, optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy
This fine-grained white marble head and most of the neck are all that survive from a figure that would have measured approximately 80.0 cm. The proper right upper corner and tip of the nose are restored. The backward tilted lyre-shaped head features a long wedge-shaped nose at the center. In the area of the right eye are traces of impacts made with a rectangular point approximately 4mm wide. The left ghost eye is caused by a faint, thin calcareous accretion rather than differential weathering of the calcite crystals. A very faint differential weathering is enhancing the presence of the pupil on the same left eye. Fine particles of goethite, hematite and black char are scattered on the surface and deposited in the recesses in the area of the ghost features, enhancing them. Few particles of cinnabar have been identified on the head’s forehead. There are fine linear tool marks at various locations on the surface.
Sandy MacGillivray and Federico Carò
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