Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum
B 216
Head of Aristogeiton from the Tyrannicide Group. Baiae Cast
Plaster Cast
Head
H. 21.6 cm, W. 10.6 cm
Found in a cellar room in the Baths of Sosandra at Baiae (modern Baia). It was found among dirt fill and other casts.
Italy, Baia, Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei, 174.479
Roman copy of an early classical, ca. 480-470 BC, original
Preservation:The head is made of a mixture of fine plaster and plaster with large inclusions. Only the right side of the face is preserved. The preserved area extends vertically from above the right eyebrow to the right chin and horizontally from just in front of the right ear to the center of the nose. The surface, which is preserved in parts, has traces of root marks. The upper lip is damaged, the lower lip has broken off, and the surface below the mouth is missing.
Description:The head portrays a bearded male with a small face. The cheek bones protrude and the cheeks below are slightly sunken. The right eyebrow is straight; the eyelids are extremely pronounced; the lower lid in particular projects as if it were a small ledge; the lids intersect at the corners of the eye; the nose is short and the right nostril is carefully defined; the lips, divided by a groove, turn upwards at the corner. The cheek is framed by the beard, the locks of which are arranged freely. The upper locks of the beard often have hook-shaped ends; the lower locks tend to be rounded and have more breadth. The surface of each lock, where preserved, has fine narrowly-spaced grooves to indicate individual strands of hair. The moustache, which is parted at the center of the lip, stands in high relief over the upper lip. At the corner of the lip, where the lip tucks into the cheek, the moustache seems to stand away from the face even more. The moustache drops downward from the corner of the lip in a single long lock which at the end turns slightly to its right.
Discussion:In addition to the Baiae cast, the head of Aristogeiton is preserved in three other replicas: A head in the Capitoline Museum, a head from the Vatican storerooms (Vatican, Mag.906) which has now been attached to a torso from the Capitoline Museum (here cat.no.C 6), and a head in the Prado (Madrid, Museo del Prado 78 E, here cat.no. C 247). For a discussion of the complete Tyrannicide group to which the head of Aristogeiton belongs, see Harmodios and Aristogeiton, the Tyrannicides. Naples (cat.no.C 5).
The cast from Baiae was certainly made from the original bronze statue. The projecting lower eyelid is the result of protective wax which was placed around the original eyelashes when the first negative form was taken from the original. It is, interesting, however, that the upper lid does not project in the same way. Landwehr’s explanation (p.16), that the projection of the yet longer lashes of the upper lid was removed because it was unattractive and impractical, is not entirely convincing.
Landwehr uses the cast, especially the rendering of the locks of the beard and moustache, to evaluate the other replicas of the head (“Kopienkritik”). For instance, she numbers the locks of the beard from one to twelve and notes that locks 1-8 are almost identically depicted in the Capitoline head and similarly depicted in the Vatican head. The Madrid head compares least favorably. In regard to locks 9-12, which are the lower locks near the chin, none of the heads follow the cast well. She concludes that the copy that varies the most from the original is the Madrid head (which, however, copies the moustache better than the other two heads.) The Capitoline head she considers to be the best rendition of the three copies, though she notes that the head makes Aristogeiton seem younger and the that it seems later in date. The variations among the copies depend on the taste of the period in which they were copied.
Landwehr’s study is complete and generally accurate.
Bibliography:S. Brunnsaker,
The Tyrant Slayers of Kritios and Nesiotes (Stockholm 1971) pp.47-53 and pp.62-67 nos.A 1 and H 1 pls.1-3 and 13-15 figs.1-3
C. Landwehr,
Die antiken Gypsabgüsse aus Baiae (Berlin 1985) 27-34 no.1 pls.2-7
W-H. Schuchhardt and C. Landwehr,
"Statuenkopien der Tyrannemorder-gruppe" (JdI 10 1986) 85-126
