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Another Hellenistic Royal Portrait from the Temple of Apollo at Cyrene?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Neil Adams
Neil Adams*
Affiliation:
Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, The British Museum
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Abstract

During their second campaign at the temple of Apollo in August 1861, Robert Murdoch Smith and Edwin Porcher discovered a large marble female head along the northern edge of the building's peristasis. The sculpture was subsequently sent to the British Museum. A recent re-examination of the head suggests that it deserves serious more attention than it has hitherto merited, principally for its quality, and the fact that it displays characteristics highly indicative of Hellenistic royal portraiture. Furthermore, comparison with a similarly sized and modelled male head discovered inside the temple presently identified as ‘Ptolemy Apion’ suggests the two should be considered as companion pieces. This paper attempts to identify the subject of the female head within the context of other sculpture originating from the temple, together with epigraphy relating to the Ptolemaic family at Cyrene. It also explores the possibility of a royal portrait group erected inside Cyrene's primary sacred space.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 33 , 2002 , pp. 29 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2002

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