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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.310
Title
Head of a Goat
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 100 BCE - 70 CE
Period
Hellenistic period, Late, to Early Roman Imperial
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/288377

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Marble
Dimensions
12.1 cm (4 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Sotheby, York Ave. Galleries, Sale #6320, June 25, 1992

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, David M. Robinson Fund
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.310
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Late Hellenistic or Julio-Claudian Roman. Head of goat missing tip of head, tip of left ear, right ear and base of neck; scar at right side of lower jaw for projecting puntello which originally connected the head with some kind of background (noticed by S. Ebbinghaus, 2/2/09). Fine-grained white marble. Extremely senstive modeling of muscle and bone structure under skin on left side. The pupil of eye projects from under raised and rounded muscular process. The right eye is simply a raised, rounded feature. The left ear hangs as a thick, rounded mass. The goat has a thin neck, in section a vertical oval curves to its right. Areas of calcium carbonate incrustation on top of neck and head. Traces of root hairs visible in depression between left eye and ear.

This sensitively modelled goat's head may originally have belonged to a small statuary group or high relief of a shepherd with his sheep and goats in a bucolic landscape. (DGM)

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu