Ring - seal with male portrait (25085)

Ring - seal with male portrait (25085)

The ring, made using two different alloys - yellow gold for the background and red gold for the verga and the edge - has an engraved setting depicting a male face in profile facing to the left: the hair, consisting of thin straight locks, is arranged from the top of the head running both forwards towards the forehead and the parietal area and towards the occipital zone, leaving the ears exposed. The forehead is low, the nose straight and pointed, the eyes small, the lips thin and the chin strong; the neck is crossed by a sinusoidal line. In the background, behind the head, it is possibile to read the signature of the goldsmith Erakleidas. It is clearly an authentic portrait, in which Roman realism merges with the Hellenistic emphasis on decoration. The shape derives from Hellenistic prototypes which were in use in Rome in the late Republican period.