Terracotta Bust of a Youth in the Getty Villa, June 2016

Title: Bust of a Youth

Artist/Maker: Unknown

Culture: Greek (South Italian, Tarantine)

Place: Tarentum (Taras), South Italy, Europe (Place created)

Date: 425–300 B.C.

Medium: Terracotta with white slip and polychromy (red, pink)

Object Number: 82.AD.93.15

Dimensions: 26.8 × 15.5 cm (10 9/16 × 6 1/8 in.)


The bust was once part of a statue of a male figure, probably a banqueter. The head, tilted slightly to the right, presents an oval face with long, arched eyebrows, sharply outlined eyes, a thin, straight nose, a small yet fleshy mouth, and a pronounced chin. Fine, sparse locks frame the right side of the forehead; the left side of the head shows heavy damage although both well-shaped ears remain prominent. The hair at the nape is portrayed more clearly in parallel waves reminiscent of Lysippan-style sculpture. Notable asymmetries between the two halves of the face, with the eyes differing in size and the central facial axis shifted to the right, suggest that the bust was conceived to be seen foreshortened and from below. The pectoral muscles are marked by slight gradations.


Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/14445/unknown-maker-bust-of-a-youth-greek-south-italian-tarantine-425-300-bc