Mithridates VI Head

Ref: 23764

Style period: Hellenistic period style

Material: White thassos marble

Dimensions: 40 cm (H) x 26 cm (L) x 25 cm (D)

Head depicting Mithridates VI, eighth king of Pontus from 111 BC. to his death. He is remembered as one of the most formidable adversaries of the Roman Republic, which forced three wars, engaging three of the greatest Roman generals: Silla, Lucullo and Pompeo Magno. It is also said that he was the sixteenth descendant of Darius the Great of Persia and the eighth since Mithridates I had left Macedonia and founded the kingdom of Pontus. The fragment and the twist of the neck suggest that it was part of a statuary complex. The thassos marble from which it was carved is rare and often used in ancient statuary complexes.

Uncertain period of realization and part of a private collection