Alexander The Great Head

Throughout the depths of the world’s artistic history, there have been many constants and many outliers. In the past few millennia, one of the former has always been the discovery of sculptural severed heads. Whether they be cast in bronze, carved from marble or stone, or formed from rare precious metals and gems, much of the culture and events can be derived from these findings, many of which were a-‘head’ of their time.
The first piece to be highlighted is, uncoincidentally, also the first accurate depiction of a human face ever discovered by archaeologists: the Warka Head or, alternatively, the Mask of Warka. A lot of mystery surrounds this particular head. It stands approximately eight inches tall and was discovered in Baghdad, in a …show more content…
Made in 320 BC, Head of Alexander-- also called Portrait of Alexander-- is a life-size rendition of Alexander the Great’s head made completely of Parian Marble. Alexander the Great was the first of many Greek rulers to exploit sculptural portraiture as means of immortalization and it was well executed here. The artist is unknown, but if it follows legend in any way, then it was created by Lysippos, who was noted in ancient literature to be the only one who could carve Alexander’s portraits. The practice behind the creation of this head was an adoption of an eastern method and idea used to honor rulers as though they were gods among men. This particular rendition of Alexander was believed to be used in a funerary monument for an unknown cortier who wished to be associated with the ruler even after his death. Alexander was not the only ‘holy’ figure in the monument-- he was joined by his assistant, Hephaistion, the goddess Herakles, a flute player, several other unidentifiable figures, and many animals and birds. Before it was ever used in a museum display, parts of the face were restored, and it is held in high …show more content…
Bust of Kneeling Girl, created in 1911 by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, has next to no historical significance or cultural information. People observing it as well as many scholarly artists find it to be of a gothic origin or method. It, unlike many of the mentioned pieces, is not meant to be reflected in a lifelike way at all; rather, many people find it to be impressionist, with its elongated neck and dulled features of cast stone. It, like the Sleeping Muse, never had a body. We do know one thing, though: Lehmbruck intended the gaze of the figure to be provocative, whether that be emotionally or sexually. Besides this, it is assumed that Lehmbruck made this more for the artistic merit of it rather than with the intention of having it be some sort of cultural