Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragment of a Goat's Head

Date

c. 500–475 BCE

Medium

limestone

Culture

Greece

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Initially identified as a horse head, this fragmentary sculpture, once painted reddish-brown, has a beard, indicating that it depicts a goat. Its large size, however, together with its neck position and unusual round eye, have all prompted questions. Was the head broken from a rearing goat? Or did it represent Pan, the rustic shepherd god often depicted as half-man, half-goat? If Pan, some scholars have connected it with a fifth-century BC Athenian sanctuary erected to thank the god for aid in battle. An alleged provenance near the Athenian Acropolis supported this idea, but scientific tests suggest otherwise. Pan, the goat-headed god, is often called a son of Hermes, but sources disagree.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.