White marble; length, 6¼ inches. Stackelberg, pl. 31; Cockerell, pl. 16.
MISCELLANEOUS SCULPTURES, OF THE FIFTH CENTURY.
549. Bust of Pericles, wearing a helmet. Inscribed Περικλῆς (fig. 23). Wolters assigns the original from which this fine bust is copied to the end of the fifth century, and suggests that it may have been the work of Cresilas, with reference to which Pliny (H. N. xxxiv., 74) states that he made an Olympian Pericles, worthy of the title, and ennobled a noble subject. Plutarch explains the presence of the helmet as caused by the ugly shape of the head of Pericles (Plutarch, Pericles, 3). It is, however, more probable that the helmet merely denotes military rank. Found in the Villa of Cassius, at Tivoli, 1781.—Townley Coll.
Fig. 23.—Bust of Pericles, No. 549.
Marble; height, 1 foot 11 inches. Restorations:—Nose, and small parts of helmet. Stuart, II., p. 42; Mus. Marbles, II., pl. 32; Ellis, Townley Gallery, II., p. 3; Arch. Zeit., 1868, pl. 2, fig. 1; Wolters, No. 481; Furtwaengler, Berl. Philol. Wochenschr., 1891, p. 286. Another copy, found at the same time as the present bust, is in the Vatican (Visconti, Iconogr. Grecque, pl. 15).
550. Head of Asclepios? Colossal ideal bearded head. The hair falls in heavy masses over the forehead, and on each side of the head. A heavy metal wreath was fastened by numerous rivets, which still remain. The head was formed of three principal pieces of marble, the heaviest piece being so shaped that it kept its position by its own weight. The piece at the back of the head is lost. A small piece, which is now missing, was also attached behind the right ear.