Over life-size terracotta head of bearded male figure. This precisely modeled and exceptionally well preserved head sports an oval face with symmetrical arched eyebrows over slender almond-shaped eyes, large tear-ducts, thick upper eyelid and bulging eye-balls with the iris clearly marked; short, pointed sharp aquiline nose with both nostrils indicated; small mouth with cupid-bow pouting lips and small centered depression under the lower lip. Both ears are sizeable and slightly protruding, with long, fleshy lobes.
His expressive features are made even more remarkable by the prominent and rounded cheekbones, whereas the lower part of the face is covered by an orderly fashioned bushy beard. Both facial and head hair is elaborately and neatly arranged in heavy locks treated with great plasticity. The cheek-side edges of the beard are sharply marked whereas the semicircular hair locks are much varied, terminating right above the semilunar folds of the forehead in two central, overworked, almost effected anastole, possibly a long lost reference to Alexander the Great. The forehead is similarly well modeled and the furrowed brow, also as an indication of age, in combination with the man’s piercing gaze reflect a definite taste for naturalism.
This bearded maturing man is wreathed by a crown composed of lanceolate leaves with finely detailed central veins and small five-petalled flowers.
The point of break on the backside of the head plainly demonstrates that this artwork was either part of a gigantic relief or that the person represented was originally seated on a chair with a high back, possibly a throne. The point of fracture also serves as unequivocal evidence that the head was meant to be seen from a frontal point of view.
There could only exist two plausible interpretations as to the identity of the bearded man, either the face of a deity or that of a mortal.
Were he to be considered a god, he would then have to be one of the three boys born to Cronus and Rhea, Zeus, Poseidon or Hades, a physically powerful and forceful mature adult male, always bearded and often with flowing long hair. It is distressing though that none of the documented iconography of the three aforementioned gods corresponds to the physiognomy of this head.
The naturalistic treatment of the imposing facial features suggest not only a person of substantial authority but also a certain age, a detail which would have never been seen to the idealised representation of a god. Actually all principal devotional sculptures were almost totally abstract, compared to the mature naturalism reflected on this head. This particular portrait is characterised by a staggering artistic skill and superlative aesthetic value and although the remarkable facial modeling, is reminiscent of works of the high Hellenistic period, the rendering of the eyes and the facial bone structure would distinctly associate it to the orbit of Gandharan artworks.
Gandhara was the ancient name of an area corresponding to northwestern Pakistan as well as the eastern Jalalabad district of modern-day Afghanistan. In 330 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered this region and, together with the Indo-Greek kings that succeeded him, introduced the classical aesthetic traditions that became an important part of Gandhara's artistic taste over the next seven hundred years. The region was along the ancient silk route and a crossroad where early influences of the western classical world met with Indian imagery and local practices; in consequence artworks from Gandhara are notable for their striking stylistic qualities, many of which reflect their complex connections to Greco-Roman and local Parthian art. Regional architects, sculptors and artists became familiar with the Hellenistic tradition and combined elements of different origin as to create their own artistic repertoire, canons and models.
Besides stone, stucco was widely used by sculptors in Gandhara for the creation of magnificent sculptures, employed in the decoration of cult buildings. Stucco provided these territorially provincial artists with a medium of great tractability and equally great plasticity, enabling a high degree of expressiveness to be given to the sculpture. Supposing that inspiration for this and other similar artworks may have come from small imports, there seemed to have been a trend towards larger than life imagery, which was very popular in Gandhara.
Based on the above arguments we could raise the hypothesis that this particular head could actually be a portrait, possibly linked to a specific individual, maybe one of the post-Alexander the Great local rulers of the area.