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Discussion

Portrait head of Emperor: Arcadius, Gratian, or Theodosius I? From Rome. Late fourth to early fifth century.

DESCRIPTION (Object)
Over life-size head. H: 29 cm. Fine-grained white marble.

The head is broken in two planes at the top of the neck. Directly behind the chin the break is horizontal. It then slants upwards toward the ends of the hair on the nape. The back of the head has broken off. On the right side the ear is mainly missing. On the left side the outer shell of the ear is chipped. The hair over the brow, the eyebrows, the lips, and the chin all are chipped. The nose and the central jewel of the crown have broken off. The surface is carefully finished but not polished.

The flat chisel has been used to define the hair, on the head and eyebrows. The perimeter line, again made by a flat chisel, of the iris is semi-circular and does not touch the lower lid. The pupil is indicated by a drill hole. The line of the inner canthi is also engraved.

PROVENANCE
From Rome. Purchased in 1923.

DESCRIPTION (Subject)
The portrait shows a young man with hair brushed forward on to the brow and wearing a jewelled diadem. The head turns slightly to its left.

The hair is wavy and falls in S-shaped locks of medium length around the brow. Behind the ear, it falls downward in longer and thicker curls. In front of the ear is a sideburn consisting of hair rendered in horizontal locks.

The diadem has a lower row of pearls and then a band decorated by incised circles and rectangles which alternate. The upper edge is battered, and the central decorative element of the main band has broken off.

The face is rectangular with a broad brow and long full cheeks. The incised eyebrows have a high arch. The eyes are elegantly shaped with pointed and dipping inner canthi and an upper lid which overlaps the lower lid. The irises and pupils are carefully defined. The mouth is bow-shaped with full lips.

DATE AND IDENTIFICATION
The diadem indicates that the head represents an Emperor. The royal diadem first appears on imperial portraits in coinage after 325, but the pearl-edged diadem with a central jewel cannot be identified securely on any Constantinian portrait in the round and seems to be the form reached in the later fourth century (see, for example, LSA-163, LSA-337, and LSA-594)

The full hair brushed forward on to the brow combined with the mannered face is the style of the Emperors of the later fourth and early fifth century (in addition to the examples cited above, see also LSA-580 or LSA-581). The smooth ageless appearance, the sideburns, and the long hair behind the ears seem to suit a young ruler. The most common identification is Arcadius (Delbrueck, von Sydow, Becke). This was proposed first by Delbrueck who considered either Honorius or Arcadius possible but the latter more suited to the physiognomy. But Gratian (Stichel), Theodosius I (Stichel), Honorius (Meischner), and even Valentinian II, cannot be securely excluded. Stichel prefers the earlier emperors because of the pattern of the crown.

J. Lenaghan

Main Reference

Delbrueck, R., Spätantike Kaiserporträts. Von Constantinus Magnus bis zum Ende des Westreichs , Leipzig 1933, 204-6, pls. 103-4 (Arcadius)

Blümel, C., Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Katalog der Sammlung antiker Skulpturen. Bd. 6. Römische Bildnisse , Berlin 1933, 51, no. R 122, pls. 79 and 80

Discussion References

Konstanin in Berlin, Milan 2006, 45, no. 10 (A. Becke: Arcadius)

Meischner, J. 'Studien zur spätantiken Kaiserikonographie', Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 110, Berlin 1995, 444-6, figs. 11 and 15 (Honorius)

Meischner, J., 'Das Porträt der theodosianischen Epoche II (400 bis 460 n. Chr.),' , Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 106 (1991), 385-407, 399, pl. 93.4 (Honorius)

Stichel, R. H. W., Die römische Kaiserstatue am Ende der Antike, Roma 1982, 53-4, pl. 21 (Gratian or Theodosius)

Sydow, W. von, Zur Kunstgeschichte des spätantike Porträts im 4. Jahrhundert. n. Chr, Bonn 1969, 82-3 (Arcadius)

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