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HOME :
Classical Antiquities :
Classical Collection/ HK : Palmyran Limestone Head of a Priest
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Palmyran Limestone Head of a Priest - LA.557
Origin: Syria
Circa: 100
BC
to 300
AD
Dimensions:
11.5" (29.2cm) high
Collection: Classical Antiquities
Style: Palmyran
Medium: Limestone
Condition: Very Fine
Additional Information: HK. Art Logic--European Private Collection, 1980s, Christie's (New York) 2004
Location: UAE
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| Description |
From a funerary bust, wearing a high
cylindrical headdress with two vertical
grooves, his face with down-turned nose,
square chin and prominent ears, his
arching
brows sharply defined, the thickly-
lidded
eyes with the pupils and irises incised,
a
dimple below the thin lips.
On the edge of the Syrian desert, in the
eastern
periphery of the Roman empire, the
ancient city
of Palmyra stood as a gateway linking
the
Western world to the luxuries of the
Orient. To
the ancient denizens of this arid realm,
Palmyra
was known simply as the Bride of the
Desert, and
for centuries intrepid merchants passed
through
this oasis seeking relief from the
merciless
desert sun. The Hebrew Bible attributes
the city
to King Solomon, though ancient Mari
records
mention Palmyra from the second
millennium BC.
Under the mercurial reign of the
Seleucids—the
progeny of Alexander the Great—the city
experienced the delights of Hellenic
civilization,
continued three hundred years later when
in the
first century AD Tiberius incorporated
Syria into
the Roman Empire. From the Romans the
city
passed to Byzantium before falling to
the armies
of Muhammad and being abandoned around
800
AD. In its heyday Palmyra was an elegant
symbol
of imperial grandeur juxtaposed against
a harsh,
primordial environment. Trade brought
wealth,
power, and splendor to this desert town,
transforming Palmyra into a limestone
metropolis that has bequeathed a rich
and
abundant source of archaeological
remains
reflecting the city’s long imperial
history.
Palmyrenes are renowned for their
construction
of colossal funerary monuments built
both above
and below the desert floor. Burial
compartments
were sealed with limestone slabs
decorated with
magnificent busts in high relief and
representing
the soul of the deceased. This heroic
bust is a
superlative example of Palmyran
artistry. The
bust, though somewhat smaller than the
proportions of life, exudes nobility
with an
imperious presence befitting a man of
high
esteem. In life, the subject of this
statue was a
priest, indicated by his tall,
cylindrical headdress.
As for what god or cult this cleric
worshiped, the
answer is unclear; however, given the
statue’s
Classical aesthetic, one can readily
infer that the
priest belonged to the Hellenic
religious
tradition.
With his square chin and exquisite
facial
symmetry, the handsome priest epitomizes
the
idealized proportions espoused by the
Greeks.
Yet unlike so many examples of
expressionless
Greek statues, fine details in this
funerary bust
allude to the subtleties of personality.
The
priest’s arching, inquisitive brow
crowns large,
intelligent eyes—thickly lidded and with
irises
incised. A dimple accents a set of thin
lips
expressing the charms of youth. Yet with
his
large ears, furrowed brow, and wrinkled
eyes the
sculptor makes no allusion that the
priest is
anything but a man of maturity—
testifying to the
wisdom in his penetrating gaze. Neither
a death
mask nor an aggrandized icon, this
remarkable
bust exists outside of time and place,
capturing
the spirit of the ancients through the
idiosyncrasy of a flesh and blood human
being. It
is a work of tremendous character
beguiling our
imagination with a relatable sensibility
alien in
the ubiquitous statues of mythic gods
and
heroes. The subject of this bust existed
not in
the empyrean but in reality, provoking
whoever
beholds this artifact to wonder just who
was the
man behind this imposing face? What was
his
name? How did he die? What were his
qualities?
While such questions are sadly
unanswered, the
profound strength and majesty of this
extraordinary creation is ineffable and
yet the
answer to their quality is quite simple:
genius.
Provenance:
European Private Collection, 1980s
- (LA.557)
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