Head of Constantine the Great

                            

This head is REALLY impressive, when you come face to face with it!  I am shooting from eye level so everyone has to look up at this marble head.  It is actually overwhelming to be in the presence of this sculpture.  It is 37 1/2 inches tall, and weighs 1,100 pounds!  As I read from the text below the statue, written by one of the curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,  I learned a lot, so I am going to write it here as part of my caption.

"This impressive head of the first Christian emperor of Rome, known as Constantine the Great, fuses imperial power with spiritual authority.  By the time he established himself as emperor, Constantine had adopted an official image, characterized by a clean-shaven face and neatly arranged hairstyle, that set him apart from his immediate predecessors.  The large, upturned eyes connected the emperor with higher powers, asserting his divine right to rule over the empire.  This monumental portrait dominated a large public space, likely in Rome, where it presided over Constantine's subjects."

So this is amazing, I wanted to know the size and the weight of this huge sculpture, so I went to the Met website and looked it up.  They are wonderful and list a huge number of objects from their collection online.  So I found the information I needed, AND I found their catalog photo.  It is so different from my photograph, because of the point of view!  To my eye, this doesn't even look like the same sculpture.  I was stunned by the difference, and so I am posting the Met's photo as well.  I hope I am right about this, but it does say "public domain."  I don't want them mad at me!