The Arundel Head is a
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
bronze portrait of a dramatist or king from
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, now kept in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. Dating to the 2nd-1st centuries BC, the head once belonged to (and takes its name from) the famous English collector of classical antiquities,
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel
Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel KG, (7 July 1585 – 4 October 1646) was a prominent English courtier during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I, but he made his name as a Grand Tourist and art collector rather than as a politi ...
.
Description
The head is all that remains of a life-size bronze
statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
. The artist has realistically conveyed the worn features of an old man, including a wrinkled forehead,
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genu ...
-shaped eyes and pouting mouth, which gives the portrait an air of power and authority. The hair of this bronze
masterpiece
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
is tied down in a ribbon, which suggests it may have portrayed a poet. Once thought to represent the ancient Greek writer
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
, it is currently considered to personify either the ancient Greek playwright
Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
or a
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...
King.
Provenance
Recent research has suggested that the ''Arundel Head'' may have originally been found in
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...
, the ancient name for
Izmir in Turkey. The bronze sculpture was brought to England from
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in the early seventeenth century as part of the
collection of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel. Subsequently, it came into the possession of Dr
Richard Mead
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...
and later
Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter
Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter (21 September 1725 – 26 December 1793), known as Lord Burghley from 1725 to 1754, was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
Life
Exeter was the eldest son of Brownlow Cecil, 8th Earl of Exeter, and Hannah So ...
, who donated it to the British Museum in 1760, making it one of the earliest pieces of classical antiquities to enter the national collection.
British Museum Collection
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Gallery
File:Arundel Head (2).JPG, Side view of the head
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
*Henry Beauchamp Walters: British Museum. Select bronzes, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan, in the Departments of Antiquities, London 1915
*C.C. Mattusch, Classical bronzes (Cornell University Press, 1996)
*S. Walker, Greek and Roman portraits (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)
*L. Burn, The British Museum book of Greek and Roman Art, revised edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1999)
Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures in the British Museum
Statues
Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom
Hellenistic sculpture