A COLOSSAL ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT OF AN EMPEROR

Details

A COLOSSAL ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT OF AN EMPEROR
Circa 1st Century A.D.

The full, fleshy face with a double chin, defined nasolabial lines, wide unarticulated eyes, deeply sculpted at the inner corners, with heavy upper lids, pronounced pouches below, the eyes shadowed by a strong, ridged brow, the forehead creased, his hair arranged in three tiers of short locks brushed foreward, with a short lock in front of each ear
25in. (63.5cm.) high, 20in. (50.8cm.) wide

Provenance

Pino Donati Arte Classica, Bern, 1969

Lot Essay

The distinctive physiognomy of this head and the monumental size implies that this is a veristic Imperial portrait rather than an ideal head of a diety. The short locks, fleshy face and unarticulated eyes point clearly to a date in the 2nd half of the first century A.D. As such, this portrait could depict either the emperor Nero, Otho, or Titus