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A Head in the possession of Philip Nelson, Esq., M.B.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

Ernest Gardner
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Extract

The head reproduced upon Pl. XI. has recently been acquired by Philip Nelson, Esq., M.B., and we are indebted to him both for his courteous permission to publish the head and for the photographs, taken by himself, from which our illustration is derived. The head is of Parian marble, and is clearly of Greek workmanship; it is also evidently derived from an original of the very highest artistic merit. It is in excellent preservation, except that the end of the nose and a part of the lips on the right side have been restored.

Dr. Nelson has kindly supplied me with the following information as to the history of the head and as to its dimensions and present condition. It was acquired by him in Bath at the sale of the collection of the late Captain Maignac, who inherited it from his father-in-law, an artist named Walton, a contemporary of the painter Barker of Bath, 1769–1847. This Walton in all probability brought the head from Italy, where he is known to have travelled and collected pictures, &c.; but there seems to be no more exact record as to its origin. The head seems to have remained practically unknown to archaeologists until its acquisition by Dr. Nelson, who, appreciating its importance, sent photographs to the British Museum in July, 1897.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 18 , November 1898 , pp. 141 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1898

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References

page 141 note 1 Dr. Nelson's address is 14, Princes Road, Liverpool. I feel no doubt that his offer will be widely accepted.

page 142 note 1 This is a matter on which I speak with the more confidence, as I understand from Dr. Nelson that Prof. Furtwängler has expressed the same opinion.

page 142 note 2 This new head shows a peculiarity in the clearly marked line bordering the eyelids, which occurs elsewhere, e.g. on the head of the Mattei Amazon. It is there claimed by Furtwängler, op. cit. p. 134, n. 2, as a point of style, not of ‘bronze technique,’ as is commonly supposed. But surely, if so, the style is that of the copyist, not of the original. It can hardly be disputed that the line originates in the bronze casing of the inserted eye-sockets.

page 142 note 3 Furtwängler, Masterpieces, Fig. 54 (Eng.edition).

page 142 note 4 Pliny's confusion in making Cresilas' nationality, Cydon, into a fifth, does not affect the value of the evidence; it simply shows he was copying unintelligently.

page 144 note 1 The Mattei Amazon, it will be remembered, has lost its head, which has been replaced by one properly belonging to the Capitoline type.

page 144 note 2 This coincidence is peculiarly interesting, when we remember Dr. Nelson's suggestion that his head represents the Doryphorus of Cresilas, while the two most characteristic athletic statues of Polyclitus were the Diadumenus and a Doryphorus.

page 144 note 3 Furtwängler regards the Farnese Diadumenus as Phidian, following Gerhard and Bötticher.