  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  Aristaeus was the divine son of the god Apollo and the nymph Cyrene. He was known in the ancient world as the founder and patron deity of the city of Cyrene in Libya, a Greek colony in North Africa. This head, from a colossal statue, portrays the god with a rather bland face surrounded by tousled asymmetrical curls, which are given dramatic life by being carved in high relief. On Aristaeus's head is a mural crown&acirc;&#128;&#148;a round flat-topped headdress with four vertical raised strips, perhaps intended to represent the defensive towers of the city walls. The enormous statue could have stood in a temple in Cyrene dedicated to Aristaeus.
  
  
  Title
  Roman Head of a Male Deity, Perhaps Aristaeus
  
  
  Artwork Date
  2nd century CE
  
  
  
  
  Makers
  
  
  (Artist)
  Greek
  (Artist)
  Roman
  
  
  
  Medium
  Marble
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 24 &Atilde;&#151; 14 &Atilde;&#151; 16 inches (61 &Atilde;&#151; 35.6 &Atilde;&#151; 40.6 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  Greco-Roman and Ancient European
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  41.9
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
