Head of Nike

The oval face, frontal gaze and distinctive hairstyle of this female head – with curly locks centrally-parted and bound in a double fillet – identify her as the goddess of victory, Nike. The head is similar to other Roman works, all of which probably replicate the Nike that was carried in the right hand of one of the most famous statues in antiquity, the gold and ivory cult statue of Athena made by the sculptor, Pheidias, for the Parthenon in Athens (447-432 BC). The back of the head and hair would have been completed in a different material, perhaps stucco.