Female head; Asia Minor, Rome, 1st–3rd centuries.

Female head; Asia Minor, Rome, 1st–3rd centuries.
Carved limestone.
It shows signs of wear and tear due to the passage of time.
Provenance: Private collection (Madrid).
Measurements: 7.5 x 6.5 x 6 cm; 10.5 cm (base).
A sculpture in the round depicting a female head. Despite the damage caused by the passage of time, the piece is notable for the hair, which is braided at the top and gathered into a bun at the nape of the neck. The Romans introduced two significant innovations to the world of sculpture: portraiture and historical relief, neither of which existed in the Greek world. However, they followed Greek models for much of their sculptural production, a foundation that in Rome would be combined with the Etruscan tradition. Following their initial contact with Classical Greece through the colonies of Magna Graecia, the Romans conquered Syracuse in 212 B.C., a wealthy and important Greek colony located in Sicily, adorned with a large number of Hellenistic works. The city was sacked and its artistic treasures taken to Rome, where the new style of these works soon replaced the Etruscan-Roman tradition that had prevailed until then. Shortly thereafter, in 133 B.C., the Empire inherited the kingdom of Pergamon, home to an original and thriving school of Hellenistic sculpture.