Portrait head of a «kosmetes» – Hadrian and Athens

Provenance: Athens, «Diogeneion». height: 0.28 m. Marble: Parian.
Chronology: 130-140 AD. EAM 416

The portrait depicts a mature bearded man, with short hair, which is combed towards the front in crescent-shaped locks, running in opposite directions. The short beard is arranged in locks rendered in low or shallow relief. The fleshy lips, the beard, but also the thick eyelids with the clear «metallic» outline, recall bronze models of the Classical period (see the portrait of Perikles, work of Kresilas, circa 430 BC).