A Marble Head in California Brunilde S
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Bryn Mawr College Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Faculty Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Research and Scholarship 1961 A Marble Head in California Brunilde S. Ridgway Bryn Mawr College, [email protected] Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.brynmawr.edu/arch_pubs Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Custom Citation Ridgway, Brunilde S. 1961. "A Marble Head in California." American Journal of Archaeology 65.4: 393-396. This paper is posted at Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. https://repository.brynmawr.edu/arch_pubs/176 For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1961] ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES 393 once made easy the departure A MARBLE HEADof INthe CALIFORNIA* Achaean fleet to- ward the west and the Greek mainland. PLATES 1 3 0 - 1 3 1 Evidently the small plateau at the tip of Cape Pho- kas is a strong candidate for the Zeus-Hera-Dionysus precinct known to Alcaeus The head illustratedand Sappho.in pls. i30-3i, figs. Its I-6, is elevationprivately owned and at present in California,' but its origin can renders it visible from miles away at sea; the mainland, Chios, and Psara are readily be traced back seen to Izmir (Smyrna),from whence this the vantagepiece point; finally its natural was harbor,brought to the quite United States suitable in 1915. Nothingfor shel- tering a substantial number more is known ofabout shipsits original builtlocation, except on thatthe an- cient scale, creates a strong it probably cameinitial from the presumption vicinity of Smyrna. in its favor on a coast where The the head isauthor life-sized,2 made was of white unable marble, andto dis- cover another like coincidence wears the Phrygian of cap circumstances.typical of Persians, Amazons That as late as Ioo B.C. the cult and other of "barbarians." Dionysus It is preserved still fromflourished below the at this site is indisputable. tip ofThat the cap tothere the base of isthe neck,no whichinscriptional ends in a evidence for the cults slanting of surface;Zeus the and head wasHera bent toward can the scarcelyproper be surprising when one left,"recalls and the breakthat from only the body twomust have inscriptions occurred have been recovered at approximately this site along andthe oblique that line of the attachment more of sig- nificant of these has vanished.neck to torso. The Thehead is intraces one piece, butof there the are large precinct, which the vegetation and the terrace bank several cracks running through it, especially over the seemed to indicate, invite a full investigation.16 More- right side of the cap. The piece is also extensively dam- over, the accessibility of the sanctuary by sea, standing aged.4 Face and cap have been carefully finished, their as it does on the route from Mytilene to Pyrrha, at a point roughly halfway surface in beingany smooth voyage and polished from without beingthe glos- east to the west coast of Lesbos, sy; the hairmakes locks, on the the other precinct hand, appear inof a fact rougher texture. There are abundant traces of red paint the,mvov, literary common evidence to attests all. Whenonly to onealtars recalls, within finally,the pre- that over the strands on the left side. cinct, the very emptiness of the sanctuary area as it now While the left half of the head has tbeen carefully stands (with the remains of the much later temple out- finished at all points, its right half is only roughly side of the area), encourages the observer to surmise sketched out. For instance, the locks emerging from that the traces of those three altars might yet lie await- under the cap (fig. 3) are indicated only in outline, by ing discovery beneath the earth. means of s-shaped slots carved with the drill; no inner JEROME D. QUINN details are shown, except for an additional central line THE ST. PAUL SEMINARY marking a rough subdivision in four of the strands. ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA Along the right side of the neck (fig. 2) there are no 16 If in fact G 2 with its "sanctuary of the beauty-contest" Height of face, from throat to forehead: m.o.I65 described the same site as G I, one would have expected to find Maximum height of cap preserved (from apex of right curve) some trace of the re^or ao-LX'ioxv--the "kingsize" wall--of m.o.I68; (from apex of left curve): m.o.202 that poem on the plateau of Cape Phokas. A careful search Maximum width of neck: m.o.II8 revealed no such remains. If a guess might be hazarded in theLength of eye (left), from exterior: m.o.o4 (eyeball: m.o.o25) present state of the evidence, one might surmise that G I andDistance between eyes: m.o.027 G 2 describe two devotional stops on the voyage of the exiled Length of mouth: m.o.o38 Alcaeus to Pyrrha, the first at Cape Phokas with its triple Distance between inner corner of eye and mouth corner: sanctuary, the second perhaps at Apothekai (pl. 128, fig. 2) m.o.o63. within the bay of Kalloni, where a massive ancient wall shores The total scale of the figure should be restored as ca. m.I.70. up an area which Koldewey surmised was a sacred site (op.cit. 3 This is indicated by the different treatment of the sterno- [supra n. 131 44). mastoids: the right one is long and tense, the left short and contracted. There are also two incised lines over the throat, * The content of this note owes much to Professor slanting Evelyn upward from right to left. Further confirmation for Harrison's help. I am particularly indebted to her for this poseall heris perhaps given by the locks that emerge from under advice and suggestions. the curve between the back side of the cap and the left flap 11 wish to express here my gratitude to the owners, (fig. Mr. 4). Theseand strands are mostly missing because the break Mrs. Manuel Stolaroff, who not only gave me permission runs close toto the peak of the curve, but it seems that they were publish the piece, but also sent it to me and allowed not me rendered to in great detail. This sketchy treatment is in con- keep it as long as I deemed necessary for the compilation trast with theof accurate finish of all details on that side of the the present article. head, and may indicate that at that point the hair was partly 2 (All the dimensions given below must be considered hidden onlyby the shoulder on which the head reclined. as close approximations.) 4 A large break has removed the tip and front part of the Maximum height preserved: m.o.334 tiara, most of the forehead (preserved only at the left temple) Maximum width (at locks over ears): m.o.2o5 and the right eye, ending over the utmost projection of the Width at temples: m.o.i31 cheek-bone; the inner corner of the right eye remains, showing Maximum depth preserved (front to back), from upper the canthus. lip to The bridge of the nose is missing from root to back of cap: m.o.23o tip, but the left nostril and part of the left side of the nose This content downloaded from 165.106.132.86 on Fri, 04 Oct 2019 15:11:48 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 394 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 65 detailed locks, as on the left side.- The contourthis head was of part face of a free-standing statue or of a and neck is visibly marked by a groove, composition where inthe very high relief, perhaps from a pedi- traces of the drill are still discernible inment spite or a frieze.of the The unfinished details of its right subsequent smoothing of the surface (fig. side 2). would Moreover, suggest that the head stood against some there is no exact correspondence of details kind betweenof architectural the background, 'but a group com- two halves of the face: for example, the position curve might of theequally well have hidden that side of cap between the back and the right side-flap our statue is consider- from view. The answer lies perhaps in the ably more pronounced and at a higher nature level of than the piece the itself and of the personage it por- corresponding curve on the left side (figs. trays. 3-5). All these peculiarities suggest that the right A clue side to its of identity the may be found in the Phrygian head was not meant to be visible. cap which the head wears. This oriental head-dress This impression is supported by the strong was used asymmetry in art to characterize several persons; it is of features shown by the face. While equallythe left appropriate eye isto Paris, Orpheus, Attis and sunk normally below the level of the bridge Mithras, of but the I am noseinclined to rule out these identifica- and under the projecting eyebrow, the survivingtions because the inner myths involved do not seem well corner of the right eye lies considerably furthersuited to frieze forward compositions, nor do they provide (figs. 1-2). The whole right cheek seems cause swollen for close groupings and which would explain the less carefully modelled than the left one. treatment Also of the the rightlobe side of the California head." A of the right ear, the line of the locks andmore likelythe candidate border for the attribution is Ganymede, of the cap on that side are pushed forward who is traditionally as com- connected with the eagle in sculp- pared to the corresponding elements on tural the compositions,7 left side.