Article
Sebastiano Conca, artist
In all history, no ruler has left a more enduring legacy than Alexander III of Macedon-Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.). His conquest of Persia introduced Hellenic culture to every corner of his vast empire, from Egypt to India, and opened the West to reciprocal influence from the East. Alexander was not just a conqueror; he also founded dozens of cities that flourished long after successors divided his empire into separate kingdoms. For centuries, Roman, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu writers repeated and embellished the story of Alexander's life.
The head, which is said to be from Ashmounein, ancient Hermopolis, in Middle Egypt, is smaller than life-size but has a colossal presence. It formerly was in the collection of Wilhelm Horn, a German banker, who bought it in Cairo in 1933. The young king turns to the left and looks upward slightly with a faraway gaze. His luxuriant tresses fall to his shoulders and are parted in a distinct cowlick, the anastole, an essential feature of Alexander's portraits. The back of the head is roughly carved and was either covered by a headdress or finished in painted plaster, a com mon practice in Egyptian sculpture of the Ptolemaic period. Traces of red painted plaster in the lips and eyes and remains of gold leaf around the left eye indicate that the entire figure not only was painted, but also gilded, another common Egyptian practice. Ifhe did wear a headdress, it may have been that of an elephant, which appears on Alexander's coinage and was adopted by the Ptolemaic kings. A head of Ptolemy II in the Louvre, also from Hermopolis, is of comparable size. It is possible that the Louvre and Princeton heads are from a sculptural group created for a temple that was erected at Hermopolis in honor of Ptolemy III and Berenike II by the soldiers who settled there after the Third Syrian War (246-222 B.C.).
The head, which is said to be from Ashmounein, ancient Hermopolis, in Middle Egypt, is smaller than life-size but has a colossal presence. It formerly was in the collection of Wilhelm Horn, a German banker, who bought it in Cairo in 1933. The young king turns to the left and looks upward slightly with a faraway gaze. His luxuriant tresses fall to his shoulders and are parted in a distinct cowlick, the anastole, an essential feature of Alexander's portraits. The back of the head is roughly carved and was either covered by a headdress or finished in painted plaster, a com mon practice in Egyptian sculpture of the Ptolemaic period. Traces of red painted plaster in the lips and eyes and remains of gold leaf around the left eye indicate that the entire figure not only was painted, but also gilded, another common Egyptian practice. Ifhe did wear a headdress, it may have been that of an elephant, which appears on Alexander's coinage and was adopted by the Ptolemaic kings. A head of Ptolemy II in the Louvre, also from Hermopolis, is of comparable size. It is possible that the Louvre and Princeton heads are from a sculptural group created for a temple that was erected at Hermopolis in honor of Ptolemy III and Berenike II by the soldiers who settled there after the Third Syrian War (246-222 B.C.).
