Funerary portrait

Central Italy, 1st century BCE – 1st century CE

Terracotta from a form; originally polychrome. Funerary portrait of a young man from the early Imperial period at the turn of the millennium, executed in the tradition of the Etruscan workshops. Hair brushed forward. The gentle expression and modelling of facial features merge Hellenistic and classical elements. Hollow head, open in the lower section, round vent hole in the nape. Traces of polychrome have been preserved; the hair was originally painted blue and the face red. (Damage on the left cheek has been patched).

H: 20 cm

UMP 8474

Purchased from Adolf Ginzel of Rome in 1886.

Besides marble, Italian sculptors often used clay, a material which was a more readily and easier to form. Terracotta funerary portraits are exquisite examples of their work.