A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN

JULIO-CLAUDIAN PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN
JULIO-CLAUDIAN PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
Depicting a man of middle age, with his head turned to his right, the expressive face with a broad cranium, thick modelled brows, unarticulated lidded eyes, a slender nose rounded at its tip, the small mouth with a full upper lip, and a rounded chin, with short wavy hair
10½ in. (26.6 cm.) high

Provenance

Private Collection, Geneva, acquired in the 1970s.
Private Collection, Europe, acquired in 1995.
Private Collection, Japan, acquired in 2003.

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G. Max Bernheimer

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Lot Essay

This Julio-Claudian portrait bears some resemblance to images of the Emperor Tiberius. The shared details include the broad cranium, small mouth and pointed chin. If Tiberius, it is unusual in that the face shows signs of age, while most of his portraits portray him with the unlined face of youth, despite the fact that he was already 56 years of age when he became Emperor. It may be that the present head is posthumous, and perhaps from the eastern provinces. For a portrait of Tiberius from the Fayum, now in Copenhagen, see no. 100 in Kleiner, Roman Scultpure.

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