Head of Arles

[1] The bust which is preserved today, with a height of 57 cm was probably inserted into an entirely clothed body, with her posture causing the chiton to slip off the left shoulder.

[3] The bust was discovered in 1823 at the same time as a bas-relief representing Apollo and Marsyas in a trench dug in a road near the location of the ancient theatre of Arles.

Particular features which are noted include the bust's banded tresses tightly tied in a low bun, the heaviness of the lower part of the face and the deep shading of the area around the eyes.

Cécile Carrier argues that it is probably based on a model which pre-dates Praxiteles,[11] agreeing with the position earlier advanced by Salomon Reinach.

[15] Like the other two statues which decorated the postscaenium of the ancient theatre (the deified Augustus in the role of Apollo and the Venus of Arles which may represent Venus Victrix) the Head of Arles conforms to the official iconographic style which was established after the end of the Roman Republic and propagated especially in the Augustan period.