Roman Female Head from Palmyrene Funerary Relief

Imperial (Roman)
180 - 240

5 11/16 in. x 4 1/2 in. x 4 1/4 in. (14.5 cm x 11.5 cm x 10.8 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• female - Referring to the sex that normally produces eggs or female germ cells.
• fragments - Portions of objects that are torn, broken off from, or dislocated from their original whole.
• funerary art - Art produced for rituals commemorating the dead and for art produced as an individual expression of grief.
• funerary sculpture - Sculpture used in or associated with the rites of burial.
• heads - Representations of the heads of humans, animals, or mythical or legendary beings.
• relief - Use to describe a surface that has been carved, molded, or stamped so that an image or design projects from or is sunk into a continuous surface.
• Roman - Refers broadly to the period, styles, and culture of the state centered on the city of Rome from the period from the founding of the city ca. 700 BCE through the events leading to the founding of the republic in 509 BCE, the establishment of the empire in 27 BCE, and the final eclipse of the Empire of the West in the 5th century CE. Ancient Rome became a powerful force and supplanted Greek and Etruscan influence on the Apennine peninsula. Its rule and influence gradually encompassed a wide area in Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Minor. Its influence was wide in scope, including sculpture, painting, architecture, engineering, language, the road system, law, and many other areas of culture. Roman art and architecture is characterized by early derivations from Greek art and architecture, but it gradually developed into a style of its own, absorbing characteristics of styles from the far flung regions under its control.
• sculpture - Three-dimensional works of art in which images and forms are produced in relief, in intaglio, or in the round. The term refers particularly to art works created by carving or engraving a hard material, by molding or casting a malleable material (which usually then hardens), or by assembling parts to create a three-dimensional object. It is typically used to refer to large or medium-sized objects made of stone, wood, bronze, or another metal. Small objects are typically referred to as "carvings" or another appropriate term. "Sculpture" refers to works that represent tangible beings, objects, or groups of objects, or are abstract works that have defined edges and boundaries and can be measured. As three-dimensional works become more diffused in space or time, or less tangible, use appropriate specific terms, such as "mail art" or "environmental art."
• stone - General term for rock that has been cut, shaped, crushed, or otherwise formed for use in construction or other purposes. Includes the specific archaeological and anthropological sense of individual stones which may be decorated or ornamented and which may be used in ritual contexts. These are usually not carved or dressed, and so differ from sculptures made from stone.
• Syrian - Refers to the historical cultures of the region of Western Asia immediately east of the Mediterranean. For the nationality of the modern nation of Syria, use "Syrian (modern)." For a general term referring to the ancient fertile crescent, use "Ancient Syrian."