Bust of Perseus

The bust here published was acquired by the British Museum in 1879 from Alessandro Castellani, but without an accompanying record of where it had been found. The marble is Italian and the workmanship Roman, or, as it is generally termed, Graeco-Roman. In the type of head and in the features is to be traced a powerful and pathetic original. The chin is aesthetically large, the eyes and eyebrows are strained forward as if by constant intensity of pathos, in contrast to the relaxation of muscle produced by an equable mind. Doubtless the original is to be sought in the schools of Praxiteles and Scopas; but in the search for it allowance must be made for great differences. In this marble the collar-bones and the strongly-marked muscles of the neck are represented so as to aid the effect of the strain on the neck rather than for the sake of truth to nature. The object of the sculptor has been to produce a first impression, not of form but of action. He has been regardless of form, now exaggerating, as in the muscles of the neck, now reducing such details as the right wing of the helmet to a condition of subordination which has a paltry effect. The feathers which cover the helmet are from the hand of an ordinary workman. The left wing has been made of a separate piece and let in, but is now wanting.It might be a question whether this head is not that of Hermes rather than of Perseus. The fact of its having been made to fit into a term—as may be seen from the angle at which the chest-bones project—would be in favour of Hermes, while the winged cap would in its present condition equally suit him.