DiscussionPortrait head of Emperor, Theodosius II (?). Unknown provenance. Fifth century. DESCRIPTION (Object)Over life-size head. H: 27.5, W: 22, D: 23 cm. Fine-grained marble. The head had been mounted on a draped bust in the modern era, and the current top of the neck was clearly prepared for that fitting. The nose and left ear are restorations. There is a crack in the marble above the right corner of the brow; the diadem there is missing its lower edge. PROVENANCE Part of the royal collection in France since the 17th c. DESCRIPTION (Subject) The head depicts a man wearing a pearl-edged diadem, thus an Emperor. He has fine, full, straight hair that is combed forward and falls low onto to the brow. He wears a short beard. The eyes are large and wide spaced. The lower part of the face is narrow and recedes. The mouth is broad for this narrow area of the face and is thin-lipped. The diadem features consecutive square bevels which are framed above and below by repeating pearls. At its centre is a five-square composition; three square bevels above and two below stand out from the rest of the diadem. DATE The pearl-edged diadem indicates an emperor after Constantine. The fine hair, which is brushed forward onto the brow, appears in portraits of the Theodosian emperors and thereafter; see LSA-163, LSA-337, and LSA-754. The short beard in combination with the diadem and the hairstyle has most in common with the extant portrait of an emperor, now in Barletta, LSA-441which is most probably mid-fifth century. IDENTIFICATION Delbreuck identified the emperor as Theodosius II who reigned from his childhood (age 7 in 408) to middle-age (c. 50 in 450). The essential logic for the identification was that a mature man (with a beard) was represented in essentially the style of the Theodosian emperors. Moreover, some numismatic portraits of Theodosius show a similar facial structure as well as a short beard. Thus, the identification is generally accepted. Main Referencede Kersauson, K., Les portraits romains II; de l’année de la guerre civile (68-69 après J-C) à la fin de l’Empire , Paris 1996, 536-7, no. 256Delbrueck, R., Spätantike Kaiserporträts. Von Constantinus Magnus bis zum Ende des Westreichs , Leipzig 1933, 217-19, pls. 114-5 Discussion ReferencesEnsoli, S. and E. La Rocca (eds.), Aurea Roma: dalla città pagana alla città cristiana, Roma 2000, 29, fig. 34 Meischner, J., 'Das Porträt der theodosianischen Epoche II (400 bis 460 n. Chr.),' , Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 106 (1991), 385-407, pls. 85.1 and 87.3 Stichel, R. H. W., Die römische Kaiserstatue am Ende der Antike, Roma 1982, 55-6, pl. 23a and 24a |
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