Head of Isis-Aphrodite with Eagle Headdress
Amethyst
Roman
2nd century A.D.
Height: 1 ½ inches (3.8 cm.)
This miniature amethyst head is without question a Roman period work of the highest quality and is clearly the product of a workshop specializing in exceptional gem carvings for elite patrons. The goddess wears an eagle headdress that derives from the vulture headdress worn by the Egyptian goddess Isis, which in historical times was adopted by Cleopatra and other Ptolemaic queens. The bird represented here, however, is clearly not the vulture of Isis characterized by its slender, snaky neck, but an eagle with a shorter, thicker neck covered in feathers. A bronze statuette in the Minneapolis Museum of Arts shows Isis wearing a headdress that represents an eagle instead of a vulture. Even closer to our example is a bronze statuette in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York described as Venus (Aphrodite) or Isis. The museum’s figure wears an elaborate eagle headdress with wings almost identical to that on our head. Our head of Isis-Aphrodite is the finest depiction of this goddess known to us in any medium. From the hairstyle and, particularly, the shape and style of the eyes with their high-arching, thick upper lids, delineated pupils and irises, bushy eyebrows and high-set cheekbones, we can date this piece with confidence to the 2nd century A.D. |
|
|
