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Lot Essay
This arresting portrait of a Roman male is a continuation of the veristic” tradition of the earlier Republican Period, where the sitter would be portrayed with every wrinkle, line and blemish; a style based on the wax death mask used in the funeral procession and displayed in the home for veneration by the ancestors.
The non-drilled pupils of this example and lack of incised irises, as well as the small patch of plastically rendered hair-locks over the forehead, suggest that it was produced in the late 1st Century B.C., at the close of the Republican Period and the beginning of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. The incongruous coarsely stippled moustache and beard are likely a later addition from the second quarter of the 3rd Century A.D., when such facial hair is ubiquitous in male portraiture.
The finely grained marble of the above portrait is reminiscent of the Luna marble of the portrait head of an old man in the Getty, cf. J.Harris (ed.), A Passion for Antiquities; Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischmann, Cleveland, 1994, pp. 334-336, no. 117.
The non-drilled pupils of this example and lack of incised irises, as well as the small patch of plastically rendered hair-locks over the forehead, suggest that it was produced in the late 1st Century B.C., at the close of the Republican Period and the beginning of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. The incongruous coarsely stippled moustache and beard are likely a later addition from the second quarter of the 3rd Century A.D., when such facial hair is ubiquitous in male portraiture.
The finely grained marble of the above portrait is reminiscent of the Luna marble of the portrait head of an old man in the Getty, cf. J.Harris (ed.), A Passion for Antiquities; Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischmann, Cleveland, 1994, pp. 334-336, no. 117.