For many years this winged head was thought to be an original Greek bronze, but it is now known to be a Roman copy. He seems to have been a subject particularly popular in the western Mediterranean, as a number of other heads and figures of Hypnos have been found in Spain, France and Italy.

Hypnos is usually shown as a running young man with wings on his head and long, tied-up hair. In this example, all that survives is the head