Appliqué Head of of Sol Invictus

Creator

Preview

Creation Date

1st–3rd century CE

Geography

Roman Empire

Culture

Roman

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

1 1/8 × 13/16 × 3/8 in. (2.9 × 2.2 × 0.9 cm)

0.73 oz. (20.8 g)

Credit Line

Long-term Loan from the Estate of Boris Blick, 2015

Accession Number

2015.164.3

Provenance

Purchased by Boris Blick in an antique mall in York, England in 2000.

Condition

Object is corroded and shows slight wearing on facial features, loss of definition on eyes and in hair. The top left protrusion of the artifact appears to have broken off. Loss of bottom right portion of nose due to wearing. Details marking eyes are somewhat worn to the point in which some definition is lost.

Emerson Durham (’25), October 2023.

Description

The artifact is a bronze figure of a long-haired, clean shaven man’s face. When laid on its back, the object’s face is pointed upwards with the concave back laying flat. Due to the flat, hollow back of the object, it can be hypothesized that this object was bound in some manner to something else so that the face would be pointed level at the viewer. What object this could have been is unclear. While worn, the use of depth in order to mark out features on the face still is immediately recognizable, with most notable wearing being present on the bottom right of the nose and right eye. The nose protrudes upward and connects to the brow ridge, and the eyes are marked below the brow ridge at a slightly lower depth. Similarly, the mouth is emphasized by a taller and wider upper lip and a lower, thinner bottom one. The chin protrudes upward somewhat as well. The same kind of use of depth is used to represent the layers in the figure’s hair. Differences in depth grant the hair that surrounds the face a kind of naturalistic quality, allowing for the hair’s wave to be observed. Jutting out of the hair on the side of the object are protruding rectangular lines in corresponding symmetry to each other. There are six of these protrusions, with one on the top left being mostly lost, leaving only the bottom portion. The middle protrusions are directly across from each other, while the top and bottom protrusions correspond diagonally from top-left to bottom-left and top-right to bottom-right. The vertical top and bottom of the artifact show no evidence of broken protrusions. On the back of the object, one may note that, while the protrusions are solid, the back of the face itself is concave.

Emerson Durham (’25)