Head of a youth ("The Nelson Head")
about mid-2nd century A.D.
Medium/TechniqueDolomitic marble from the Greek island of Thasos
DimensionsHeight: 29 cm (11 7/16 in.)
Credit LineBartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1900
Accession number03.746
On View
On viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
This head blends elements from different periods of Greek sculpture. The sharply outlined face seems inspired by works of the fifth century B.C., but the wavy,asymmetrical hair is more in the manner of the later fourth century. The head resembles that of the “Ares Ludovisi,” a famous statue of the war god found in Rome, but differences between the two leave the identification uncertain.
ProvenanceBy 1903: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought from Philip Nelson of Liverpool.); (according to L. D. Caskey, Catalogue of Greek and Roman Sculpture, no. 73: Probably found in Italy. Purchased from Dr. Philip Nelson, by whom it had been acquired in Bath at the sale of the collection of Captain Maignac, who had inherited it from his father-in-law, the artist Walton.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, March 24, 1903
about 2nd century A.D. (after a Hellenistic Greek type)
about A.D. 200
about A.D. 120
second half of 2nd century A.D.
A.D. 120–140
about 150 B.C. or later
A.D. 117–138, after a Greek original of about 450–430 B.C.
2nd–early 3rd century A.D.
about A.D. 180–210
about A.D. 140
