An inscription reading ΠΕΡΔΙΚ along the hem of this man’s mantle may identify him as Perdikkas, a youth who had neglected to sacrifice to Aphrodite while studying in Athens. As retribution, the vengeful goddess cursed him with a love for his own mother, which caused him to waste away. Such bodily afflictions appear frequently as punishments in ancient mythology and literature.
Provenance
- Said to have been found in the Aisne River, near Soissons, France. By 1844, collection of the Vicomte de Jessaint (1764–1853), Beaulieu, Trannes, France; by 1874, collection of Frances Cook (1871–1901), London and Richmond Hill, Surrey, England; by inheritance to his son, Wyndham Francis Cook (1860–1905); by inheritance to his widow, Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook (1856–1925), London; sold at Christie’s, London, Cook Collection Sale (lot no. 32), August 1925; purchased at Christie’s by Joseph Brummer (1883–1947); Brummer Gallery, New York and Paris (inventory P2344); purchased from Brummer Gallery by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, August 1947.
Selected Bibliography
- G. M. A. Richter, Catalogue of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Cambridge, MA, 1956), 32–35, no. 17, plate 14.
- S. Hemingway and C. Picón, eds., Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World (New York, 2016), 163, no. 73.
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