Portrait head of an ephebe – Hadrian and Athens

Provenance: Athens, «Diogeneion». Height: 0.27 m. Marble: Pentelic.
Chronology: Julio-Claudian period (14-68 AD). EAM 401

The portrait depicts a beardless young man with short hair. It is not certain that the head belonged to a herm, as the heroic turn of the neck to the right refers to Classical, Polykleitian models. The hair, in low relief, is not fully treated, which suggests that the head was probably unfinished.