3704 - Reception of Antiquity: Bust of Sappho

Reception of Antiquity: Bust of Sappho 20th century, unidentified maker’s mark and incised ‘M 40’, colour-glazed stone cast, depiction of the head of the Greek poet Sappho (born c. 630-612 BC on Lesbos, died c. 570 BC), one of the nine canonical female lyric poets of antiquity, often referred to as the ‘tenth Muse’; depiction of the head with artfully plaited hair and in a slightly downward-tilted posture; mounted on a cast plinth with an iron rod; the original is housed in the National Museum in Athens; it is known that the bust was found in Perinthos in Thrace and dates from the Greek cultural period (c. 4th century BC); it is chiselled, with a clearly visible casting seam on the back of the head, total height 58 cm. Source: Arachne database, Arachne ID 2292908, and the internet.