Part of a head from a statue of Athena depicted with idealistic features. The upper part of the head is cut diagonally and processed appropriately in order to receive an additional part, possibly wooden, as well as a Corinthian-type helmet.
The head comes from a group of statues alongside Miltiades' head (Ακρ. 2344) which was similarly crafted.
They were both made in the 2nd cent. AD and are Roman replicas of a famous bronze group dedicated at Delphi by the people of Athens in 465-460 BC to commemorate their victory over the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC where Miltiades, one of the ten Generals, played a leading role. That bronze group, with a total of thirteen statues, depicted Miltiades among Athena and Apollo, protectors of Athens and Delphi respectively, as well as the ten Eponymous Heroes of the Attic tribes. The group was an early creation of the sculptor Pheidias and falls into the period of the so-called “Severe Style”.
Praschniker, C., «Aus dem Depot des Akropolismuseums I, Athene Gestalten», Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien 1948, σελ. 5-6, εικ. 1, 2 Dontas, G., «Un opera del Giovane Fidia», Annuario della Scuola archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni italiane in Oriente 37/38 (n. s 21/22), 1959/60, σελ. 309-320, εικ. 1.3 Δεσπίνης, Γ., Ακρόλιθα, Αθήνα, 1975, σελ. 28, αρ.κατ. 4 Δεσπίνης, Γ., «Η κεφαλή του Μουσείου της Ακρόπολης 2344», στο Μ. Λιλιμπάκη-Ακαμάτη, Κ. Τσακάλου-Τζαναβάρη (επιμ.), Μνείας Χάριν, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998, σελ. 47-64 Despinis, G.I., «Vermutungen zum Marathon-Weihgeschenk der Athener in Delphi», Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 116, 2001, σελ. 103-127, εικ. 8.10 Vlassopoulou, C., «Neue Skulpturenfragmente von der Akropolis», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 120, 2005, σελ. 181-182, εικ. 32.4 Μπρούσκαρη, Μ., «Ιδεαλιστικά κεφάλια ρωμαϊκών χρόνων, αντίγραφα κλασικών έργων», Αρχαιολογική Εφημερίς 2011 (2011), σελ. 22-25, εικ. 7, αρ.κατ. 7