Life-size, this head from the Hellenistic period probably belonged to a statue representing the goddess Isis or a Ptolemaic princess, perhaps Cleopatra. The peculiar hairstyle, known as "Libyan style", indicates the origin of the head. In the hollow in the center of the hairstyle must have been the head of a metal bird and the eyes were probably made of materials other than marble. The author of the sculpture was probably Greek of the Attic school. It was found in 1866 on the edge of the Esquiline Hill, near the church of Saints Peter and Marcellinus on the Via Labicana.