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A Greek marble head of Alexander-Helios image 1
A Greek marble head of Alexander-Helios image 2
A Greek marble head of Alexander-Helios image 3
A Greek marble head of Alexander-Helios image 4
Lot 101

A Greek marble head of Alexander-Helios

28 November 2019, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£20,000 - £30,000

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A Greek marble head of Alexander-Helios
Late Hellenistic Period, circa 1st Century B.C.
Wearing a seven-pointed radiate crown atop his luxurious hair, styled in two rows of curls and falling onto his shoulders, the rounded face with unarticulated almond-shaped lidded eyes and small, full mouth, remains of drapery on his left shoulder, 17cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
Mr A. collection, Paris, acquired prior to 1996.

Published:
F. Antonovich, Les Métamorphoses Divines d'Alexandre, Paris, 1996, p. 50.
C.-G. Schwentzel, Images d'Alexandre et des Ptolémées, Paris, 1999, p. 66-7, no. 12.

One of the identifications made with Alexander the Great was that of Helios, the god and personification of the sun. This idealised portrait-type sculpture has Alexander's characteristic thick, curly hair set into his anastole hairstyle. Cf. a bust of Helios now in the Agora Museum, Athens, inv. no. S 2255; this sculpture was once thought to be a portrait of Alexander-Helios, related to the so-called Eubouleus type, though is now considered simply a depiction of the sun god.

Additional information

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