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A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 1
A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 2
A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 3
A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 4
A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 5
A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 6
A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great image 7
Lot 127

A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great

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

£100,000 - £150,000

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A Roman marble herm with the head of Alexander the Great
Circa 1st-2nd Century A.D.
Surmounted by a portrait head of Alexander, the face highly polished and sensitively carved with lidded almond-shaped articulated eyes, his full lips slightly smiling, his wavy leonine locks in his characteristic anastole hairstyle, bound by a fillet, set atop a smooth shaft tapering slightly towards the base, with genitalia and toes sculpted in high relief, 120cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
with Roswitha Eberwein GmbH, Antike Kunst Göttingen.
Mr A. collection, Paris, acquired from the above 25 April 2000.

This sculpture is exceedingly rare, with only one other herm topped by a portrait of Alexander known: the 'Hermes Azara' at the Musée du Louvre, acc. no. MR 405/MA 436, surviving only partially as a bust. The subject of the 'Hermes Azara' is identified by an inscription on the front of the bust, and though the authenticity of this antique text is debatable, the subject remains undisputed.

The Louvre example depicts an older Alexander than the present lot, though the treatment of the hair is similar. For a comparable youthful portrait, with similar treatment of the nose and lips, see another example at the Louvre, acc. no. MA 3499, dating to the 3rd Century B.C.

Additional information

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