A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD
probably Roman Republic and later carved in the medieval period, modelled turned slightly to sinister, with a bald head, deep-set eyes and heavy brows, a monk's tonsure added at a later stage, 27cm high; on a later copper shaft set into a square marble plinth, 41cm high overall Provenance: John (Jack) H.A. Quitter (b.1941) and thence by descent; Private collection, Gloucestershire.
This exceptionally rare depiction of an early medieval monk appears to have been carved using a Roman marble head, most likely dating from the early part of the 1st century. The characterisation of the facial features is typical of Roman works at this time. The portrait has then been later altered to reflect the identity of another European cultural group. It may thus be compared to a Roman marble head of a German, which depicts the sitter with his hair tied in a Suebian knot, found in Somzée, Belgium, datable to 1st/2nd century, and now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels. The repurposing of Roman figures is seen throughout Europe during the early Medieval era, perhaps most obviously in the Roman marble head of a goddess, defaced and carved with a cross, presently in the Museum of Samos in Greece.
John Quitter was a speech writer for Henry Kissinger with a life-long interest in the arts, he served on the Council of the Royal Society of Sculpture.
