Cast Gallery catalogue number: A045
Turbaned head of a man; the boss of stone on the forehead may be connected with the technique of copying a model or with the handling and manoeuvring of the finished sculpture (cf A064 where a similar boss has been removed)
- Plaster cast: Height: 54cm.
- Copy of the head of a marble statue.
- The statue:
- is from the east pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.
- was made about 460 BC.
- was found at Olympia and is now in Olympia Museum.
Detailed Record
Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum
A 045
Head of Seer (L) [Klytios?]. Olympia East Pediment
Marble (Parian)
Pedimental Figure
H 37 cm
From the east pediment of the Temple of Zeus. The head was found built into a later structure ca. 25 m to the east of the temple in 1876.
Greece, Olympia, Olympia Museum
ca. 460 BC; Early Classical
Preservation:The head is broken below the neck, a small fraction of the right shoulder is preserved. Nose, mouth, and chin are broken off together with most of the left side of the face. The surface is worn and abraded, the back of the head scored on the left side.
Description:The head was originally slightly raised and turned to the left. The remaining section of the face shows a furrowed forehead and crow’s feet at the outer corner of the right eye. Traces of a curly beard are preserved beneath the right temple. The long hair is carefully styled and rolled up in separate strands under a thin band. The surface on the left side and back of the head (where preserved) is roughly picked, the left ear only indicated in outline. The marble on the top of the head towards the back has been cut off to produce a flat surface.
Discussion:The head belongs to the statue of a crouching, elderly man (figure L) from the east pediment. A large, much battered part of the body and several smaller fragments of the arms are preserved. The size and pose of the figure, and possibly also the fashioning of the crown, relate the statue to the corner of the pediment. He was originally identified as the charioteer Myrtilos, but the advanced age and worried expression, echoing those of figure N (A50), perhaps rather suggest that he is a seer, for example Klytios. The details of the coiffure are obscure; it is thought by some that the head wears a turban-like headdress, sign of his foreign origin in the entourage of Pelops. The original paint would have made this more obvious.
Bibliography:G. Treu,
Die Bildwerke in Stein und Thon (= Olympia III) (Berlin 1895) 60-61; 68; 105 figs. 89-94 pls. 14.2; 16.1
This is the thorough original publication providing details on findspot, preservation etc.B. Ashmole and N. Yalouris,
Olympia. The Sculptures of the Temple of Zeus (London 1967) 15; 173 pls. 58-61
A valuable and richly illustrated discussion including new fragments.
