Bust of Apollo

Artisan: Town Square Miniatures
Date: Unknown
Dimensions: 43 x 22 x 20 mm. / 1 ¾ x ⅞ x ⅞ inches (height x width x depth)
Inventory number: 2022.004
Intended Room: Library
Category: Antiquities

Although I haven’t yet found a direct prototype, this bust seems to derives from the type of the Tiber Apollo, a Roman marble copy of a lost Greek bronze original. Due to its stylistic qualities, that lost original can be dated to around 450 BC, while the Roman copy was made during the reign of Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. The sculpture is now in the Museo Nazionale Romano in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome. Note the diadem around the head and the way the front part of the hair is set in a row of curls along the forehead. A bronze variation on the Tiber Apollo, with amazing inset eyes, was found at the House of the Citharist in Pompeii (again, a Roman copy after a Greek original). Due to its colouring, it feels closer to this miniature bust.