Head of a Persian guard

A low relief in pale brown stone shows a bearded man in profile wearing a tall pleated headdress. Curled rows of beard and a spear shaft cross the figure, and a rectangular shield with a rim fills the right side. The surface is worn and cracked, with chipped edges along the top and right.

Look closer: A rounded shield boss and the spear point are partly hidden at the lower center, near the figure's arm.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 486–465 BCE

Medium

Limestone

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

4000 × 3436 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1955