Head of a Man

400–300 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta with clay slip

Dimensions

13.1 × 9.1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-239329

This head of a young man has a rounded cranium, full cheeks, and a heavy chin forming a squarish face, which is framed by tightly coiled locks of hair across his low forehead and temples. He has a broad nose and fleshy lips. Asymmetrical eyes and a crease on the proper right side of the neck indicate that the model for this head was angled slightly to the right. No traces of polychrome pigments remain to indicate his complexion or hair color. Broken off a statue at the base of the neck, the head lacks hair on the sides and back, a summary treatment typical of mass-produced votive sculptures that were intended to be seen from the front. The votive is one of a group of twenty terracotta heads and busts (inv. [82.AD.93.1–20](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/search/?view=grid&query=YToxOntzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjtzOjg6IjgyLkFELjkzIjt9)) reportedly associated with an extraurban sanctuary at Saturo/Satyrion near Taranto (ancient Taras/Tarentum). Between the fifth and third centuries B.C., worshippers dedicated thousands of ex-votos at shrines by a sacred spring as well as in precincts around the city. Many figures of women, men, and children reproduce standard types, but display individuali…