Bust of so-called Aeschylus
- Title:
- Bust of so-called Aeschylus
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 1st to 2nd c. CE (Roman copy)
ca. 350 BCE (Greek original)
- Location:
- Warehouse (formerly Goldwin Smith Hall Room G55)
- ID Number:
- CCC_0694
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 232
721 in black on sticker in front
678 - File Name:
- CCC_0694.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 56 (H) cm
- Culture:
- Roman, after Greek
- Style/Period:
- Roman Imperial, after Greek Classical
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in the round (original) - Subject:
- Aeschylus
- Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 70 x 39 x 31 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast of a portrait herm dubiously identified as Aeschylus (Aischylos) and held in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The aging figure faces forward and looks ahead with smallish, seemingly close-set eyes, a furrowed brow, and closed lips. The bald head--with mid-length, wavy hair at the sides and back--is quite broad at the crown and is the most salient feature of the portrait. The figure's beard is long with well-articulated, wavy locks. The head is set into a herm bust with a himation slung over the figure's left shoulder. The head of the original is ancient
the tip of the nose and the herm are restored. Anecdotal evidence indicates that Aeschylus was bald by the time of his death. The identification of this work as a portrait of Aeschylus is heavily speculative and based primarily on the baldness of this figure. Richter identifies another, markedly different portrait type as more likely to represent Aeschylus. The sticker on the front of the foot of the bust (721) refers to the number associated with this cast in A Visitors' Catalogue of the Museum of Classical Archaeology (Ithaca, 1893), a publication that preceded the Sage Catalogue. - Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 596 - Bibliography:
- Gisela Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks, vol. I (London: Phaidon Press, 1965), 121-124, esp. 123, figs. 604-605
Rune Frederiksen and R. R. R. Smith, The Cast Gallery of the Ashmolean Museum. Catalogue of plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculpture (Oxford: The Ashmolean Museum, 2011), 175, C 157 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Rome, Capitoline Museums (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.