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

Germanicus Julius Caesar (15 B.C.-19 A.D.) was the son of Drusus Major and Antonia Minor and the brother of Claudius, who later became Emperor. Upon the death of Drusus in 9 B.C., Germanicus was adopted by his uncle Tiberius, who would also become Emperor (r. 14-37 A.D.). Germanicus was thus associated with the most important royal families in Rome: he was the great-nephew of Emperor Augustus and, through his mother, had inherited Julian blood. Germanicus’ early military career was distinguished. In 14 A.D., after the death of Augustus, he suppressed a mutiny by Roman legions in the Rhine who attempted to exact more pay. He later commanded eight Roman legions on the Rhine frontier and recovered two of the legionary standards earlier lost in a military defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D. Upon Germanicus’ return to Rome on 26 May 17 A.D. a triumph was celebrated for his military accomplishments.
Germanicus was marked as Tiberius’ successor and in 18 A.D. he was made consul. The relationship between Germanicus and Tiberius is thought to be portrayed on one of the most important cameos of the Julio-Claudian period, the so-called Grand Camée de France, now in Paris at the Bibliothèque Nationale (see pp. 149-152 in D.E.E. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture). Shortly after Germanicus’ return to Rome he was given maius imperium – ultimate authority – to the provinces east of the Adriatic Sea with instructions to settle internal affairs. In 19 A.D. Germanicus travelled to Egypt without imperial authority and fell ill and died at Antioch on 10 October. Gnaeus Piso – the governor of Syria – was suspected of poisoning Germanicus after the two came into conflict about bureaucratic changes the consul sought in the region. Gnaeus Piso was tried for murder but committed suicide before his sentence was delivered, although some suspect that Tiberius himself was implicated in Germanicus’ death for entering Egypt without permission, a grave violation since the time of Augustus’ rule.
Germanicus was one of the most celebrated members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Suetonius (Life of Caligula III) describes Germanicus as a man who “possessed all the highest qualities of body and mind, to a degree never equaled by anyone; a handsome person, a unequalled valor, surpassing ability in the oratory and learning of Greece and Rome, unexampled kindliness, and a remarkable desire and capacity for winning men's regard and inspiring their affection.” Germanicus became a popular hero just as Tiberius was regarded by the public as abandoning Rome and living a life of debauchery in self-imposed exile in Capri.
The Pestalozzi Germanicus is portrayed with strong features, the head inclined slightly to the right. He has a prominent chin, large eyes, and an aquiline nose. His narrow lips are bowed and his hair spirals down from the crown and falls onto his forehead in thick waves. While this portrait was once thought to represent Drusus Ceaser, Germanicus’ son, H. Jucker (op. cit., 1977), in his definitive study of Germanicus’ portraits, confirms that the Pestalozzi example belongs to the so-called Béziers type, named after an example now in Toulouse and found in Béziers, France. Comparison to a closely-related portrait of Germanicus in Copenhagen at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, also of the Béziers type, demonstrates a similar arrangement of hair and stern features (see no 51 in F. Johansen, Catalogue of Roman Portraits I).
This Germanicus was once part of the collection of the famed Swiss physician and collector Dr. Arnold C. Klebs (1870-1943). In 1896 Klebs temporarily settled in the United States where he studied with Dr. William Osler at Johns Hopkins. He later produced a major work on tuberculosis and practiced medicine in Alabama and Chicago. Upon Klebs' death his collection of nearly 3,000 books and pamphlets on inoculation and tuberculosis was donated to Yale, where it became part of the university’s Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library.