Glass portrait head
Unknown Artist
Opaque deep red.
Solid block.
Carved in the round: male head with short wavy hair and fringe across forehead, arched brows, large eyes, and clean shaven face.
Broken, with large unweathered chip in proper right side of face and side of head, and weathered chips to nose, mouth, and chin; green copper weathering surface.
This small portrait head may represent a prince from the family of Constantine I.
Credit: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
1st half of 4th century A.D.
Glass; cast and carved
5.0 x 5.0cm
17.194.1474
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection