Head of a youth

This limestone head of a beardless youth is an outstanding example of sculpture in the later phase of the Cypro-Classical period (480-325 BC). The back surface is rough, indicating that the head originally belonged to a votive or funerary relief. The facial features, the hairstyle and the introspective expression refer directly to Lysippian models of Greek sculpture in the 4th c. BC, and are strongly reminiscent of the terracotta statues found in the cenotaph of Nikokreon, the last king of Salamis before its conquest by the Ptolemies. The piece is of such exceptional quality and craftsmanship that it can be reasonably considered the work of a Greek sculptor living in Cyprus or even an import. During the 5th and 4th c, BC, Cypriot workshops turned towards the major artistic centres of Classical Greece, particularly Attica, and endeavoured to assimilate Greek styles, yet retaining several local iconographic traditions (for example, the Cypriots never adopted the nudity of Greek statues). Nonetheless, Cypriot sculpture did not succeed in competing with the Greek one, and frequently prosperous Cypriot citizens preferred to import statues and reliefs directly from Greece.