George Mason University Plaster Cast Collection
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Cast no.24

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Title

Cast no.24

Abstract

Hellenistic head of an old woman.
Marble.
Probably first century CE.
Dresden, Albertinum, no. ZV 475.
H with base 12 in.
Not in Metropolitan cast catalogue.
Long-term loan.
Cast Location: Robinson B359 hallway

This weathered head represents an old woman with her mouth open in laughter, revealing bad teeth. Over her head she wears a kerchief and an ivy wreath, identifying her as one of the drunken followers of Dionysos. Images of old, drunken, derelict, and generally unattractive individuals belong to a genre developed during the Hellenistic period that retained its appeal during Roman times. The figure to which this head once belonged was probably installed as a garden sculpture.


Bibliographic Citation

Bibliography

See Rune Frederiksen and R.R.R. Smith, The Cast Gallery of the Ashmolean Museum: Catalogue of Plaster Casts of Greek and Roman Sculpture (Oxford, 2011), 192; R. R. R. Smith, Hellenistic Sculpture (London, 1991), 138 and fig. 176; Guy Dickins, Hellenistic Art (Oxford, 1920), p. 29, no. 22. Figure. 24.

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