| Descriptive Attribute | Value(s) |
|---|---|
| Type | Divine Images: Cypriot Pan |
| Title | Pan Statuette Head |
| Excavation Unit | 30 |
| Stratigraphic Unit | 3024 |
| Context | Found in a disturbed context, a mixed deposit consisting of alluvial layers and modern looter pits (EU 30/SU 3024). |
| Current Location | Larnaka District Archaeological Museum, Cyprus |
| Material | Limestone |
| Height (cm) | 12.16 |
| Width (cm) | 7.4 |
| Date | 310 – 30 BCE |
| Thickness (cm) | 8.53 |
| Weight (kg) | 0.46 |
| Description | Head from a large Cypriot Pan statuette, broken at the neck. The head is elongated, and although the face is flat, the features are well proportioned and have an individualized character. Square at the top, the head becomes spherical at the back. The hair is pulled away from the forehead in long strands that grow from the same root as the budding horns, such that the center of the hairline is a circumflex (^), the opposite of a widow’s peak. The locks are arranged around the horns and ears and continue behind the head to the nape, where they bunch into a tubular bun that cups around a thick neck. A small portion of Pan’s cape is preserved at the right shoulder, as it begins to form a collar. The completely preserved left horn is slightly raised and reflexed. The pointed ears are long, narrow, and turned out to be in line with the face. Pan is beardless with low cheeks and a rounded and slightly projecting chin. He has a long forehead (equal in length to the nose profile), a smooth brow, and deep sockets with eyes sunk into frames of thick eyelids. A shallow, hemispheric depression in Pan’s left eye suggests a pupil but is set too far to the side to have been intentional. A wide philtrum connects the nose to a subtle smile: the ends of the upper lip are upturned, while the lower lip is pursed. Traces of paint are not preserved and dark gray splotches discolor all surfaces, especially the face. |
| Commentary | AAP-AM-2740 is one of several finely carved heads of Cypriot Pan found at Athienou-Malloura, as well as at other sites in the Mesaoria (Cofer 2011: 169–73, fig. 12.8; Flourentzos 1989: 125, pls. XXVIII–XXIX). All come from larger-scale statuettes (none greater than half-life-size), but each betrays a distinct character through individualized features in the form of the head, hairstyle, and facial expression. Without the body, it is unclear how AAP-AM-2740 might correspond to the full-length types of Cypriot Pan known from the corpus of smaller-scale statuettes (Cofer 2011: 172). The individualization of the face is characteristic of Cypriot sculpture in general and the Hellenistic period in particular (see Connelly 1988). The distinguishing differences in heads such as these may also reflect influences from Hellenistic royal portraiture, as Ptolemaic and Antigonid kings were known to style themselves as Pan (see Laubscher 1985; Svenson 1995: 46–52); significantly, these dynasties were competing for control of the Mesaoria in the late fourth and early third centuries BCE (Cofer 2011: 173–75). In this regard, AAP-AM-2740 compares closely with the heads of Pan that feature on the obverse of the coinage of Antigonos Gonatas (Cofer 2011: 167, fig. 12.4; Panagopoulou 2000), the Antigonid king who adopted Pan as his patron deity, even though Cyprus was firmly under Ptolemaic control throughout his reign (r. 284–239 BCE). The size, hairstyle, sunken eyes, and subtle smile of AAP-AM-2740 find close parallels in a Cypriot Pan head found without a context in Larnaka (Cyprus Museum 1934/IV–27/31; Flourentzos 1989: cat. no. 38, pl. XXIX). The heavy eyelids are a standard feature in Cypriot sculpture from at least the last quarter of the fourth century BCE, when they are attested on clay heads found in the so-called “cenotaph of Nicocreon” (Tumulus 77) at Salamis (Karageorghis 1969: 155–62, pl. XV). The sunken eyes within the eyelids, however, are both unusual and rare, and suggest the possibility that they were originally inlaid, perhaps with bone or horn. Such eye inlays are preserved on a limestone statuette of Apollo from the sanctuary at Golgoi-Ayios Photios dated to the Hellenistic period (Hermary and Mertens 2015: 243, cat. no. 326). These considerations of style and form argue for a date in the Hellenistic period, likely sometime after the middle of the third century BCE, the time of the “Pan-head” coinage of Antigonos Gonatas. |
| Bibliography | Cofer 2011: 169-73, fig. 12.8b |
| Sketchfab Media URL |
Alternate link to 3D Model: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/aap-am-2740-1e9bdc30b4ab47f28c8306295a1ffb5a
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| Descriptive Attribute | Value(s) |
|---|---|
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Consists of
Vocabulary: CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) |
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Has type
Vocabulary: CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) |
sculpture (visual works)
Vocabulary: Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus Open Context References: sculpture (visual works) |
Suggested Citation
Derek Counts, Erin Averett, Kevin Garstki. (2020) "AAP-AM-2740 from Europe/Cyprus/Athienou-Malloura". In Visualizing Votive Practice: Exploring Limestone and Terracotta Sculpture from Athienou-Malloura through 3D Models. Derek B. Counts, Erin Walcek Averett, Kevin Garstki, Michael Toumazou (Ed). Released: 2020-07-28. Open Context. <https://opencontext.org/subjects/163a8be2-765f-4cb9-8595-7521926bb9d2> ARK (Archive): https://n2t.net/ark:/28722/k2fj2tj9c
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