HOW FASHIONABLE IS THE PERSON REPRESENTED?
Does the statue wear a fashion hairstyle or
a carefully coiffed beard? Just as today it is easy for us to distinguish a
woman of the 1960s with a Jackie O look from a woman of the 1990s who wears
Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle, Roman art historians can easily determine the
decade in which a fashionable Roman woman had her portrait made. Female
divinities, on the other hand, never follow fashion: they are above such things.
They have long hair parted in the center and pulled back to a bun at the
nape. Unfortunately many men and not all women follow fashion, so the
trick is not infallible. However, if you see a male figure with hair that
covers the ears, is parted in the center, and is symmetrically arranged at the
brow, and who has no facial hair, you're probably looking a divinity or hero.
