Inventory number
Ακρ. 689
Artist
Attic workshop
Category
Sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
After 480 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.228 m
Length: 0.125 m
Material
Marble from Paros
Location
Archaic Acropolis Gallery
The head belongs to a youth’s statue, possibly an athlete. It was found in 1887 during archaeological excavations for the construction of the old Acropolis Museum in the area of the Sanctuary of Pandion. Its modern day name the “blonde boy” is due to the residue of golden-yellow colour which had been retained over his hair at the time of its discovery. Traces of red colour on his lips and yellowish on his eyes, was also visible at that time.
The head turns slightly to the right, the eyes are large, the eyelids heavy, the nose straight and the mouth well shaped with the lower lip more prominent. The hair divided into two braids, wraps around the head and ties over his forehead under his wavy fringe. On the top of his head there is a drilled hole, probably for the attachment of a meniskos. The solemn, almost melancholic expression on his face reveals the new perception in sculptural art during the time of the so-called “Severe Style”.
Some researchers attribute this head to the same statue with the naked torso of a young man Ακρ. 6478, but others point out a few differences in their proportions which make this connection uncertain. The fact, however, that this statue head was carefully detached from its body, has led to the assumption that its removal was deliberate.
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