Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum

H 013
Head of the Old Fisherman from Aphrodisias. Aphrodisias

Marble
Statue
H. 26 cm (without base)

The head of the Aphrodisias Fisherman was found in 1989, in the west end of a long pool in the Portico of Tiberius in Aphrodisias (SW Turkey). It joins a body found in 1904 in the Baths of Hadrian (which are at the west end of the portico).
Turkey, Geyre, Aphrodisias Museum, 89-3
c. AD 150 - 250, after a Hellenistic prototype.

Preservation:
The right eyebrow is much damaged, and the left eyelid is damaged. The left side of the nose is broken. Some locks of hair are damaged and the end of the beard under the chin is slightly damaged. The break runs through the upper part of the neck.

Description:
The head turns to the right. It is shown as balding, and his short hair is unruly. The subject wears a beard which is shown as unkempt and patchy – there are two strips where the hair of the beard does not cover the chin, on either side of the mouth. The planes of the face are asymmetrical; the left ear seems too low and near to the face. The facial expression is strained but quiet. The brow is deeply furrowed. The eyes are small and wrinkled. The edges of the irises are incised and the pupils are drilled. The eyes look toward the right. The nose is broad, and pronounced naso-labial furrows run to the corners of the mouth. The mouth is small, and the lips are open, revealing very small teeth.

Discussion:
The life-size head belongs to a statue of an aged, stooped fisherman. The fisherman was a popular character in Roman sculpture. The genre stemmed from Hellenistic sculptural experiments in subject and style, which sought to test the sculptors ability to make beautiful things using ugly subject matter. The fisherman was generally considered a base character in this period. The Roman marble versions differ slightly in their treatment of the character, some portraying him as ruder than others. The hair and especially the beard of the Aphrodisias figure show him as a slightly unkempt character – notice the patchy beard, with strips of hair missing from either side of the face. But the head also recalls portraits of Hellenistic philosophers, and in that sense the version ennobles the fisherman, making him into a more idyllic kind of rustic peasant figure, suitable for display in the public baths of a prosperous Roman city such as Aphrodisias.

Bibliography:
R.R.R. Smith, "Archaeological Research at Aphrodisias 1989-1992" Aphrodisias Papers 3: JRA Supplement Series 20 (Michigan 1996) esp. 57 - 63, figs. 54 - 60 (short note on the joining of the head and torso and on the workshop of the figure)