Where Did The Statues’ Noses Go?

This is a question that plagues a lot of people. If you ever went to a museum, you might have noticed that a lot of statues have their noses missing, just like this marble head of the poet Sappho held in Glyptothek in Munich. Even the Great Sphinx in Egypt has its nose missing. The question is: where did the noses go? The usual speculation would be that someone chipped off the nose. However, that isn’t necessarily the case, but it is sometimes true nonetheless.

It is true that a few ancient sculptures were indeed deliberately defaced by people at various times for different reasons. For instance, there is a first-century AD Greek marble head of the goddess Aphrodite that was discovered in the Athenian Agora. You can tell that this particular marble head was at some point deliberately vandalized by Christians because they chiseled a cross into the goddess’s forehead.

This marble head, however, is an exceptional case that is not representative of the majority of ancient sculptures that are missing noses. For the vast majority of ancient sculptures that are missing noses, the reason for the missing nose has nothing to do with people at all. Instead, the reason for the missing nose simply has to do with the natural wear that the sculpture has suffered over time.

The fact is, ancient sculptures are thousands of years old and they have all undergone considerable natural wear over time. The statues we see in museums today are almost always beaten, battered, and damaged by time and exposure to the elements. Parts of sculptures that stick out, such as noses, arms, heads, and other appendages are almost always the first parts to break off. Other parts that are more securely attached, such as legs and torsos, are generally more likely to remain intact.

(Image Credit: Bibi Saint-Pol/ Wikimedia Commons)