Greek
Paired Heads

What “janiform” means

“Janiform” describes heads arranged back to back. Although the term derives from Janus, Greek paired-head vessels do not necessarily represent the Roman god.

Greek vessels and contrasting identities

Athenian potters made paired-head vessels by the end of the sixth century BCE. Examples combine a satyr and a woman, Herakles and Omphale, or two female heads. The pairings give different identities a shared sculptural form.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the Athenian tradition and its Etruscan adaptations.

A vessel used and turned

A kantharos is a wine cup with high handles, used in the symposium, the ancient drinking gathering. Turning a paired-head cup brings its second face into view. Its function makes movement part of the experience of the object.

Source: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, janiform head-kantharos from Akanthos.

What the sculpture takes, and what it changes

From the Greek tradition Janus of Love takes the shared form: two heads, one object, no single correct viewpoint. The kantharos with two female heads in the Metropolitan Museum (12.234.5), made in Athens around 490 BCE, is the only object on this site that places two women's faces back to back; it is the sculpture's closest ancient relative and opens the gallery below. What the sculpture changes is the subject. The Greek pairings set different identities against each other. Petrides pairs the same woman with herself, at two moments of one love, and lets the difference in expression carry the meaning.