Head of a Youthful God in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, October 2009

Head of a youth ("The Nelson Head")

Roman, Imperial Period, about mid-2nd century A.D.

Dimensions: Height: 29 cm (11 7/16 in.)

Medium or Technique: Dolomitic marble from the Greek island of Thasos

Classification: Sculpture

Catalogue Raisonné: Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 146; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 111 (additional published references).

Accession Number: 03.746

The over life-size, oval face of the male youth gazes downwards, with the head tilted towards the right shoulder. Small eyes are framed by heavy eyelids; the lips are full. The hair is worn in thick layers of deeply cut, short curls. The top of the skull is flat rather than round and the hair radiates in a starburst pattern at the back of the head.

Condition: Broken along the middle of the neck. The tip of the nose and the right side of the mouth are restored in marble. Iron stains on left side of the mouth and along the nose.

Scientific Analysis:

Marble has been scientifically tested with X-Ray Diffraction and determined to be Dolomitic.

Harvard Lab No. HI360: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.85 / delta18O -3.82, Attribution - Thasos-Cape Vathy, Justification - Dolomitic by XRD.

This head blends elements from different periods of Greek sculpture. The sharply outlined face seems inspired by works of the fifth century B.C., but the wavy, asymmetrical hair is more in the manner of the later fourth century. The head resembles that of the “Ares Ludovisi,” a famous statue of the war god found in Rome, but differences between the two leave the identification uncertain.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/head-of-a-youth-the-nelson...