Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/46



A relic of the Roman occupation of this island has lately been brought under my notice, possessing considerable claims to our attention on the grounds of art and history, but much more from the circumstances under which it was discovered.

This object is a circular disk, 1 in. in diameter, of opaque, lavender-coloured antique paste, bearing a female bust in half-relief, and in front-face, with the hair waved, parted down the middle, and falling in one ample tress far down over each shoulder upon her bosom. These latter particulars in the treatment of the figure will be shown, in the course of this inquiry, to be of essential importance towards the identification of the original of this portrait.

As regards the first consideration mentioned—that of artistic merit—this work is of the highest order; for although cruelly corroded by time and friction upon the surface, it still shows itself, at the first glance, to have been cast from