Marble herm head of a bearded deity

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The angular transition between the sides and the back of the neck indicates that the head comes from a herm rather than a statue. Herms, the rectangular pillars surmounted by a head of Hermes, are first attested during the last quarter of the sixth century B.C. They were used primarily as boundary markers and guardians of entrances and thoroughfares. In the fifth century B.C., other deities such as Zeus were also represented in herm form and the monuments were used for a wider variety of functions. It is not possible to identify the god represented here. The elaborate hairstyle consisting of two long braids coiled around the head and held in place by a flat band is often found on images of Zeus or Poseidon. The heavily lidded eyes and the dignified composure of the face point to the end of the early Classical period.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art