A HEAD OF A VEILED WOMAN H. 30 cm. Limestone.... Lot 200

A HEAD OF A VEILED WOMAN H. 30 cm. Limestone. Roman, Eastern Provinces, 1st cent. A.D. A close-fitting veil covers the whole head, draping down on either side of the neck. Flat eyebrows and wide upper lids frame the eyes. Soft flesh spans the wide cheekbones and surrounds the curved mouth with slightly protruding upper lip. The draping of the veil in wide, flat folds accentuates the unusual depth of the head. Surfaces roughly smoothed on the left side, the crown, and at the back of the head. Nose, right side of the face and lower right edge of the drapery worn. Head of a draped statue. Provenance: Formerly Bossi Collection, 1960-1970. The wide open eyes with wide upper lids and the slight lowering of the head to the right can be understood as a reference to Roman and city Roman portraits of the Early Imperial Period. Cf. a portrait of Agrippina the Elder, Fittschen-Zanker - 1983, 5 f., pls. 4-5. Our head differs in the presence of a fine, unworked ridge on the lower surface of the eyeballs, the aforementioned ridge on the crown of the head, and the enormous depth of the head, which could be explained by a krobylos at the back of the head underneath the veil. That the hair of our head is entirely covered by the veil could be a local trait. The arrangement of the pleats could be based on models from the centre of the Roman Empire. Cf. a portrait of Livia wearing a veil, but showing hair above the brow, Fittschen-Zanker - 1983, 1 ff., no. 1, pl. 1. KOPF EINER FRAU MIT SCHLEIER H. 30 cm. Kalkstein. Römische Ostprovinzen, 1. Jh.n.C. Den gesamten Kopf umhüllt ein dicht angelegtes Schleiertuch und fällt beidseits entlang des Halses herab. Flache Brauenbögen und breite Oberlider rahmen die Augen. Weiches Wangenkarnat überspannt die breiten Jochbeine und umgibt den geschwungenen Mund mit leicht überstehender Oberlippe. Die flächige Drapierung des Schleiertuches verdeutlicht die ungewöhnlich grosse Tiefe des Kopfes. Oberfläche links, auf der Kalotte und am Hinterkopf g