Herm portrait of the kosmetes Heliodoros – Hadrian and Athens

Provenance: Athens, «Diogeneion». height: 1.975 m (with base) height of head: 0.29 m. Sockets for insertion of tenons 0.10x0.05 m. Marble: Pentelic.
Chronology: 115/116 AD. EAM 384

According to the inscription on the stele the kosmetes Heliodoros, son of Heliodoros, from Piraeus is depicted. The accentuated features of his advanced age (baldness, wrinkles, flaccid cheeks, bags around the nose and mouth, double chin) refer to the realism of the Flavian era. The broad forehead and the square chin are characteristic of portraits of the Emperor Vespasian. The swollen ears indicate his athletic past as a pankratiast or a wrestler.