3D-Printed Replica of the Larger-Than-Life Portrait Head of a Pergamon King
This replica reproduces the marble head recovered in 1906 from Room H of the upper gymnasium at Pergamon and now held in the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (AvP VII 130 / P 130). The original fragment measures 39.5 cm in height (35 cm from crown to chin) and 17.7 cm across the temples. It depicts a beardless man with thick, deeply undercut curls and a deep-set gaze. From the front the features read as those of a heroic figure; only at the nape does a thin royal diadem appear. The head was carved separately for insertion into a colossal body, almost certainly a barefoot cuirassed statue estimated at 3–3.5 m tall. It formed part of a dynastic group flanking an over-life-size Heracles on a semicircular andesite base in the architectural climax of the gymnasium hall.
Stylistically the work belongs to the high Hellenistic period of the early second century BCE (commonly placed c. 200–170 BCE), the generation of Eumenes II and the workshops that produced the Great Altar. Whether the head represents Attalus I Soter (r. 241–197 BCE) in a posthumous portrait or Eumenes II himself, it was set up in the civic space where the city’s elite trained under the patronage of Heracles, the dynasty’s legendary ancestor through Telephos. The diadem is reserved for the rear, so that the frontal view presents a hero-athlete of superhuman scale while the sign of kingship becomes visible only upon circumambulation. Ancient recutting of the hair at the temples and forehead left the diadem and identity unchanged, evidence of continued care for the royal image.
The replica is offered in the following materials:
– White nylon: Smoothed by polishing for a refined tactile surface; the most economical option.
– Black nylon: Subjected to post-printing treatment and Color Touch finish, yielding a stable, consistent colour across batches, resistance to scratching and rubbing, and suitability for external exposure. The surface presents a uniform colour of high quality.
– Bronze, gold-plated brass, and white rhodium-plated brass: Produced by lost-wax casting. A 3D-printed wax master is invested in plaster; molten metal is then introduced, displacing the wax through a gating system. The process yields metal parts of elegant appearance.
Replica measurements (Nylon): 5.6 × 8 cm (2,20 × 3,15 inches)
Replica measurements (Metals): 2.5 × 3.5 cm (0,98 × 1,38 inches)
Objects that exceed the dimensional limits of the respective production processes are manufactured at reduced scale relative to the original. Hollowing may be introduced in certain materials to reduce weight and cost.
