DiscussionPortait head of Emperor with diadem (Valentinian III?). From Rome or its environs. Mid-fifth century. DESCRIPTION (Object)Over life-size head. H: 32 cm. W: 19, D: 23 cm. Fine-grained marble. The head is broken at the base of the neck and has been set on a modern bust. The chin, the mouth, the nose, the right ear, and the upper part of the left ear are restored in marble. The hair of the head is finely engraved in long curving strands. The hair of the beard is schematically indicated by repeating short strokes of the chisel.. The irises are large, and the pupils are small and semi-circular; both are engraved with a flat chisel. PROVENANCE Acquired from the Borghese collection in 1808. It was presumably found in or around Rome. DESCRIPTION (Subject) The head represents an emperor wearing a diadem. It consists of a series of rectangular frames lined above and below by a series of pearls. At the centre is a round frame. The honorand has medium-length hair which is wavy and combed forward. It falls low on to the brow and has a small central part. He wears an under the chin beard. The face is long. It is marked by the large eyes, heavy eyelids, and high-arching eyebrows. There are no signs of age. DATE AND IDENTIFICATION The head represents an Emperor and seemingly a young one. Delbrueck identified him as Valentinian III (Emperor in the West, 425-455). Most scholars have accepted a fifth-century date. The reason for the identification was stylistic. Stichel placed it in the first half of the fifth century, and Meischner just after the middle of the century. The rendering of form is simplistic, and the eyes receive greatest attention. In both of these details and in the rendering of the hair, the head resembles LSA-598. That head is generally identified as Honorius. Both portraits have been re-cut from earlier heads in a similar manner. Meischner compared the style of the head to that of a portrait from Ephesus,< l>709">LSA-709. The Ephesus head is usually dated to the middle of the fifth century but again on stylistic grounds alone. 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, 538-9, no. 257Delbrueck, R., Spätantike Kaiserporträts. Von Constantinus Magnus bis zum Ende des Westreichs , Leipzig 1933, 215-6, pl.112 Discussion ReferencesMeischner, J., 'Das Porträt der theodosianischen Epoche II (400 bis 460 n. Chr.),' , Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 106 (1991), 385-407, 387, 391 pl. 86.4 (c. 450-460) Stichel, R. H. W., Die römische Kaiserstatue am Ende der Antike, Roma 1982, 56-7, pl. 23b and 24b (first half of 5th c.) |
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