The goddess Athena is depicted here with centrally parted wavy hair gathered in a long plait at the nape of neck. She is wearing a helmet of Corinthian type pushed...
The goddess Athena is depicted here with centrally parted wavy hair gathered in a long plait at the nape of neck. She is wearing a helmet of Corinthian type pushed back over her forehead, the top of the helmet is decorated with a ram’s head in relief.
Viktor Hruby Collection, Vienna, acquired in the 1970s, thence by descent Gorny & Mosch, Munich Private collection, New York Galerie Chenel, Paris, acquired from the above Axel Vervoordt Collection, Belgium, acquired in 2016
Literature
This marble head of the goddess Athena, close to the Vescovali type, is a Roman copy of a Greek 4th century BC prototype. Cf. LIMC, Athena, no. 253: Cyrene Museum 14033. The head would have come from a full-length statue of the goddess, draped and wearing her aegis. The statue is conventionally attributed to a range of masters associated with the late 4th century BC, one of which is Praxiteles.
For further discussion of the type see W. Schürmann, 'Der Typus der Athena Vescovali und seine Umbildungen,' in Antike Plastik, 27, 2001; I. Altripp, 'Zu den Athenatypen Rospigliosi und Vescovali. Die Geschichte einer Verwechslung', AA, 1996; W. Schürmann, 'Der Typus der Athena Vescovali und seine Umbildungen', AntPl, 27, 2000; I. Altripp, Athenastatuen der Spätklassik und des Hellenismus, Köln, 2010.