Head of a Woman (300–200 BCE): Art, History and Details

Head of a Woman (300–200 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The symmetry and proportions of this unidentified woman's portrait harkens back to the classical style made popular in the 4th century BC by the master Greek sculptors Praxiteles and Lysippos. Her center-parted wavy hair, rolled into an up-do, reflects the style of the later Hellenistic period when this work was made.

Object facts

• Title: Head of a Woman
• Date: 300–200 BCE
• Culture: Greece, Hellenistic period
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 16.6 x 9.6 x 9.6 cm (6 9/16 x 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1916.831

A detail from the museum

This hairstyle was achieved by rolling the hair and tucking it into the band behind the ears.

Collection credit

Bequest of Liberty E. Holden

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 2 (1917): 26-37.
• Eldridge, L. G. "Classical Marbles in the Museum." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 3 (1919): 43-63.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.