Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum

B 087
Female Head, "Hera" from the Argive Heraion possibly from the Pediment . Athens

Marble (Parian)
Head
27 cm

From the Peloponnesos, between Mycenae (on the northwest), Argos (on the southwest), and Tiryns (on the southeast). Found at the site of the Argive Heraion. It lay immediately in front of the west side of temple, slightly north of center, in line with the stylobate.
Greece, Athens, National Museum, 1571
ca. 420 BC

Preservation:
The head is broken unevenly through the neck. The front portion of the neck is more damaged. The right side of the face is corroded and worn. The tip of the nose and the lips are worn away. There are holes in the ear lobes for the insertion of earrings. The back of the head is not as finely finished.

Description:
The head depicts a female with a classical face and long hair gathered at the back of her nape. The face, which is intended to be seen completely frontally, has a regular oval shape. The forehead is framed above by the hair line which has a high arch. It is not especially broad and slopes backwards at the sides. The eyebrows are fine and arch regularly. Below them the eyes are wide open. The upper eyelids are projecting bands which, however, are not heavy or thick. The lower lids are rendered in the same way. The cheeks are smooth and slightly rounded; the nose is straight and solid. The mouth is short from side to side and the groove which divides the lips turns downward at the corners. The lips are rounded and the upper lip has a small overhang at the center of the mouth. Below the lower lip is a horizontal furrow under which is a broad and strong chin. The hair of the head is parted down the center. It falls in thick wavy locks that are delineated by parallel undulating lines which are engraved at different depths. Visible all the way around the head, running above the ears and slanting backwards, is a flat fillet. In front of the fillet around the face the hair is combed backwards. It covers the entire ear except for the ear lobe but does not cover the fillet. On each side of the head behind the ear the hair that is pulled backwards is twisted together with the hair on the same side at the back of the head. On each side the twisted roll then falls down the nape of the neck. At the front of the head between the fillet and the brow there is an unusual horizontal braid. It sits separately on top of the hair with is its beginning above the hair line and its side edges clearly marked. The head has a few subtle assymetrical features. The central part, for instance, does not line up with the center of the nose, and the left eye is slightly higher and more open than the right eye.

Discussion:
The head shows characteristics that are typical of late fifth century sculpture. These include the tall shape of the head, the full regular oval face, the cap-like hair, and the open eyes with the lower lid that droops more heavily near the outside of the eye. The unusual braid at the front of the head, moreover, recalls that of the caryatids of the Erectheion porch, also dated near the end of the fifth century. The stephane, the long braid on the nape of the nape of the neck, and the earrings suggest that the head represented either a divinity or a woman in an exalted state, for instance a priestess. Among the possible divinities Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis have been excluded because, respectively, of the lack of a helmet, the tied hair, and the earrings. Hera has been suggested as the most likely divinity since the sanctuary was dedicated to her and because the iconography is correct. Arnold has suggested Hebe because she believes that the head should be associated with Hera yet the representation is too girlish. Moreover, a statue of Hebe stood next to the famous chryselephantine cult statue of Hera. The head was found directly in front and just to the north of center of the west side of the Argive Heraion which was built after a fire of 423 BC. This location has led some scholars (Waldstein, Eichler, and Delivorrias) to conclude that the head was part of the pedimental decoration of the temple. It is appropriate in style (late fifth century) and its size is suitable for a central figure the pediment. In addition, Eichler and Delivorrias noted that the face was slightly turned and probably not meant to be seen from all sides. Finally, the fact that the head is seriously worn on one side suggests that that side, the right side, was more exposed to weather. Pausanias (2.17.3) described the scenes, presumably on the metopes and pediments of the temple, as the Birth of Zeus with the Gigantomachy on one side and the Trojan War and the Ilioupersis on the other side. Others, following Schuchardt, believe that the head is stylistically dissimilar to the heads of the metopes and that it shows too much frontality to have ever been part of a narrative scene. They would ascribe the head to a statue in front of the temple, which either depicted a goddess or a priestess. Pausanias (again 2.17.3) saw such statues. However, given, that the head was found on the back side of the Temple adjacent to the stylobate and given its date and given the corrosion on one side, it seems most likely to me that the head came from the architectural decoration. The initial discussions about the head focussed on whether the style was representative of the Attic tradition or the Peloponnesian Polykleitan school. These arguments are too subjective to be useful. Worth noting, however, is that Arnold attributes the head to a follower of Polykleitos who, in her opinion, also created the statue of “Narcissos” and the “Dresden Youth”. Although it perhaps imprudent to assign all these types to the same hand, they do have a certain similarity which is probably due to their fundamentally contemporary creation. The Argive head has also been mentioned in conjunction with the “Hera Ludovisi” and the “Colonna Artemis” and has been compared to a head of Apollo? in the Ince Blundell Collection with which it certainly shares a similar structure and hair arrangement. Tölle-Kastenbein noted also that a head depicted on a Roman period discus in the Vatican reproduces an iconographically similar head type.

Bibliography:
C. Waldstein, Excavations of the American School of Athens at the Heraion of Argos, 1892 (London 1892) pp.8-13 probably from a sculpture representing Hera on the West Pediment of the Temple of Hera
C. Waldstein, The Argive Heraion I (Boston 1902) pp.166-167, 188-191 pl.36 and frontespiece full publication which repeats earlier notice with further thoughts on non-Attic nature of head
F. Eichler, "Die Skulpturen des Heraions bei Argos" (OJh 19/20 1919) pp.37-40 and 131-134 figs.77-88 notes that head asymmetrical and probably turned to its left, considers it to have come from West Pediment
W-H. Schuchhardt, "Die Friese des Nereiden-Monuments" (AM 52 1927) pp.150-152 believes head comes from a statue in front of the Temple
S. Karouzou, National Archaeological Museum. Collection of Sculpture (Athens 1968) p.58 pl.28a considers it to be from a cult statue of Hera
D. Arnold, Die Polykletnachfolge (Berlin (JdI Erg 25) 1969) pp.82-83 considers it to have been a statue, perhaps representing Hebe, and to belong to same master as the Dresden Youth and the Narcissos
V. Kalliopitis, Le Musée national. Athènes (Paris 1973) p.94 no.93 considers it a cult statue, belonging to the school of Polykleitos, dated ca.420 BC
R. Tölle-Kastenbein, "Juno Ludovisi: Hera or Antonia Minor?" (AM 89 1974) p.245 pl.93.1 notes similarity of head to discus in the Vatican
(A. Kossatz-Deissmann), "Hera" Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae IV (Zurich 1988) p.674 no.118 bibliography and summary of opinions