Head of Hades

Head of Hades

In the late 1970's, the archaeological site of Morgantina, Sicily was heavily looted, and artifacts found there were acquired by various American institutions. This terracotta head of Hades, which was found in a sanctuary dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, was one of them.

The area around Morgantina was the bread basket of the ancient Greek world, and archaeologists have found evidence of a fertility cult worshipping Demeter and Persephone centered there. The story of Persephone’s abduction by Hades, god of the underworld, was the Greek explanation for the changing of the seasons. As told by Ovid, the beautiful young daughter of Demeter disappeared while gathering wildflowers along the shores of Lake Pergusa, not far from Morgantina. Demeter searched the earth for her in vain, carrying an outstretched torch to light her way. Eventually, Demeter learned of Hades' role in the abduction and threatened to leave humankind in a perpetual winter if her daughter was not returned. Zeus brokered a deal that let Persephone out of the underworld for nine months every year—the harvest cycle of spring, summer, and fall. For the three months of winter, Persephone had to return to Hades, leaving the fields barren.

In 1985, the Getty Museum purchased the terracotta head from the New York collector Maurice Tempelsman, who had purchased it from the London dealer Robin Symes in 1982. Getty records state that the museum paid USD $530,000 for the terracotta head, which retains some of its original pigments in its elaborate hair and beard.

Italian authorities believe the head of Hades was found in the same sanctuary of Demeter at Morgantina where several other objects displayed at the Getty were looted: two marble busts, depicting Demeter and her daughter Persephone, which Symes also sold to Tempelsman and were briefly on loan to the Getty; and the Getty's cult statue of a goddess, which the Getty bought from Symes in 1988 for $18 million. All have since been returned to Italy.

The head of Hades was not among the 40 objects the Getty returned to Italy in 2010 in the wake of a criminal investigation of the museum. But in January of 2013, the Getty Museum agreed to return the Hades head after Italian authorities found evidence that terracotta fragments of the body matched the head.

It was transferred to the Museo Archeologico in Aidone, Sicily, not far from Morgantina, and displayed with the two marble heads and the larger cult goddess that were found with it.

1

Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines

Greek

Maurice Tempelsman

J. Paul Getty Museum

85.AD.105

Italy

The J. Paul Getty Museum (1986), Acquisitions of 1985, Malibu, p. 186-187.

C.C. Vermeule (1984), Catalogue of a Collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities Formed by a Private Collector in New York City During the Past Several Decades, Malibu.

http://www.getty.edu/museum/media/images/web/enlarge/012930F23V1.jpg

Liv Siefert

Jason Felch