The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2025

Head of a Young Woman

25–1 BCE
(archaizing)
marble
Overall: 23 x 19.5 x 18.5 cm (9 1/16 x 7 11/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1989.74
Location: 103 Roman

Did You Know?

When Rome conquered Greece in 146 BCE, Romans developed a taste for historic Greek art.

Description

This head of a young woman is designed after Greek art in the Archaic period (c. 600–480 BCE). She references a type of Greek statue called a kore in her heavily patterned hair, almond-shaped eyes, neutral expression, and large disk earrings, best preserved on the right ear. Her stephane or diadem crown is from the later Hellenistic period; however, with the addition of the decorative vegetal scroll it is characteristic of Roman art. All these elements together are not found in original Greek archaic artworks. This ancient combination of deliberately historic styles is called archaizing or archaistic by modern scholars.
  • E. H. T. “The Year in Review: Selections 1989.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 77, no. 2, 1990, pp. 38–78. Reproduced: p. 53, no.3, Mentioned: p. 66 www.jstor.org
  • The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of a Young Woman|url=false|author=|year=25–1 BCE|access-date=25 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.74