A Roman Head in the American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Abstract

THE FRAGMENTARY RELIEF PLAQUE presented in this paper is kept in the antiquities collection of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens under the inventory number ASS 13.1 It is sculpted in high relief and shows the lower half of the head of a youth; the neck appears never to have been sculpted (Pls. 34, 35). The iconography, which is unusual for a human head, attracted our attention and led to our efforts to identify the type of monument to which this piece belonged, as well as to detect the identity of the mysterious head. There is unfortunately no record of the provenience or history of acquisition of ASS 13.