Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14008/20970
Title: Late Roman portrait heads from the theatre of Sparta (M4856 & M3964)
Start date: 300
End date: 300
Historical Period: Early Byzantine/Late Antique Period
Description: 

M 4856 (right) is roughly life-size and was found close to the central doorway of the rooms behind the stage. It is broken off at the juncture with the neck. The head clearly shows distinctive personal features. It portrays an early middle-aged man with short-cut hair, whiskers, beard, and moustache. The hair is roughly rendered in sort crisp curls. The large eyes are deeply set in sharply cut eyelids. The iris is indicated by a segment of an incised circle intersected by the upper lid, and the pupil by a smaller circle sharply cut close under the upper lid. The mouth forms a straight line pulled back at the corners showing a light smile.

M 3964 (left) was found in a Byzantine cistern building behind the east end of the scenae frons. It preserves the portrait-head and the neck of the statue, which was cut round below for insertion into a socket. The facial features are severely damaged, the nose and lips being almost entirely lost, but the general style is close to M 4856. The cubic head along with the large emphatic eyes, the short-cropped hair, and the short-cut beard point to 'Tetrarchic' models.

Chronological details: Tetrarchic, circa 300

Place: Sparta, Greece  
Languages: No linguistic content; Not applicable
Medium: marble (rock)
Project: BYZART Project  
Fond: OUC Georgios Deligiannakis Archive  
Physical type: sculpture (visual works)
Material and technique: sculpture in the round
Data provider: Open University of Cyprus  
License: All rights reserved
Rights holder: Archaeological Museum of Sparta  
Appears in Collections:BYZART

Show full item record

Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.