240 - Head; Magna Graecia, 6th–5th centuries B.C.

Head; Magna Graecia, 6th–5th centuries B.C. Amber. It has been restored. Measurements: 2.5 x 6 x 2 cm; 13 cm (total height). Provenance: Family legacy of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Archaeological collection formed from the 1950s by successive generations of the family, through acquisitions in European galleries and auction houses. This sculpture depicts a face or votive mask with stylized features and a distinctly archaic character. The schematic treatment of the facial features is combined with a series of linear incisions running across the forehead and the sides of the head, suggesting an elaborate hairstyle and helping to reinforce the figure’s solemn, frontal appearance. The piece as a whole recalls the figurative models developed in the Italic and Magna Graecian regions during the transitional period between archaic conventions and the subsequent classical style. Given its small size and the exceptional qualities of the material, this type of object may have been intended for votive, ritual, or funerary contexts. Amber was held in particularly high regard in antiquity, not only for its rarity, beauty, and exotic origin, but also for the protective and apotropaic properties attributed to it. Amber carving reached a remarkable level of development in Classical Antiquity, especially in the central Mediterranean region, where it was produced by workshops linked both to the Greek settlements of Magna Graecia and to various Italic cultures. Among the main centers of production and distribution, the regions of southern Italy and the Adriatic stand out; these areas played an active role in the trade networks connecting the Mediterranean with northern Europe.