Why Do Most Ancient Statues Have No Heads?

In museum or monument areas, ancient art statues missing heads or arms We are used to seeing it. So, have you ever wondered why these statues are missing?

In fact, the fact that Roman statues do not have heads is smaller than we think. for more interesting reasons It endures.

First of all, we need to understand how ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were made.

Artist while making sculptures body and legs first would create it, then add the arms and head to the existing frame.

The head and limbs were usually made separately and attached to the body of the statue with metal/stone nails and dowels. sometimes more to keep small parts in place cement was used.

Natural disasters that occur over time or situations such as human intervention (war) When he damaged the statues, the arms and heads would be damaged. That’s why ancient statues are often armless or headless.

In ancient times, Romans and Greeks preferred to make statues with removable heads.

This is because; a hero, an important person or when the ruler loses his reputation The head was easily removed and replaced with the head of a new hero, a more prominent person, or a new ruler.

Statues were often covered with clothing. roman head, in the identity of the person he represents Many of the statues had removable heads, as he considered this an important factor.

For example, by the order of Emperor Hadrian, the head of the statue of Apollo was removed and replaced by the bust of Antinous. Antinous came from Northwest Turkey and had become Hadrian’s favourite.

If a person was hated, the Romans would carve and destroy statues of him after his death.

Usually by targeting the nose or facial features of a statue It was intended to humiliate and humiliate the person. Additionally, emperors pursuing rivals would destroy statues of previous rulers to erase their memory. In fact, this policy is known as “damnatio memoriae”.

So, as you can see, we cannot limit it to just wear and tear over time. What the statues were exposed to over time natural and human interventions, The combination of ancient production techniques and policies is the main reason why we see headless statues today.

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