Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
YITH Badge
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment
Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment

Roman Giallo Antico Hermes head herm fragment

R12

£475.00

Sold

A fragment from a Giallo Antico (dense yellow marble) herm in the form of a bearded head. The head probably represents the god Hermes and is finely carved with subtle wavy hair tied by a garland over the brow.

From the second half of the 2nd century BC giallo antico was used by the Numidian kings. After the Roman conquest of Carthage the marble was widely used for column shafts and wall and floor coverings in public buildings of cities closest to the coast of the Mediterranean. The Romans began to import it in increasing quantities across the empire where it was also used in prestigious private villas.

Pliny attributed its introduction in Rome to Lepidus in 78 BC who used blocks of it for the thresholds of his house. Suetonius reported that the people had an honorific column of Numidian marble dedicated to Caesar erected in the Roman Forum. Augustus used the marble for the columns of the peristyle of his house on the Palatine together with portasanta and pavonazzetto marble, and he also made extensive use of it in his Forum. It was also used for statues, in particular of barbarians or wild beasts. In the 3rd century the quarries gradually became exhausted and the giallo antico was progressively replaced by yellow breccias of other origins and of lesser value

Culture
Roman, 1st or 2nd Century AD

Size
14 x 12.5 cms, 17.8 cms with stand

Condition
Fragment as shown, mounted on a custom-made clear perspex display stand

Provenance
Ex. estate of Professor Victor Chan (1947-2020), Alberta, Canada and thence by inheritance. Acquired in London before 1990.

Victor Chan taught art history at the University of Alberta, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2000. Professor Chan purchased the majority of his collection from smaller London dealerships including Tetragon, George Lambor, M. Ayres and Old Drury during visits to the UK during the early 1980’s.

SKU: R12 Categories: , , , Tag:
Shipping Calculator

blank

Related products

TOP