CIRCA 5TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

This well-preserved Sasanian royal portrait bust depicts the king emerging from a corolla of stylized leaves. Diagonally over his broad shoulders he wears a chest halter, the two straps merging below in a central ring. He is bejeweled in a double-strand beaded necklace with two central drop-shaped pendants and earrings with drop-shaped pendants. His head is symmetrically framed by clusters of curls falling on to his shoulders. He has a wavy mustache and full smooth beard, the lower end of which is cinched at the chin by a ring or ribbon. He has a flat nose, large convex lidded eyes, and a summarily-rendered mouth. The elaborate crown consists of a band at the forehead with some recessed areas along its length, the ties falling along his back. Above, at the front, are two superimposed crescents, the smaller one at the bottom. This was once surmounted by a now-missing ovoid, ribbed orb. At each side are stepped crenellations, once supporting now-missing wings.

Sasanian palaces were decorated with royal busts set within niches, either of bronze or stucco, and a number of them survive in both materials (for a stucco example, see no. 41 in Harper, The Royal Hunter, Art of the Sasanian Empire). At least two others in bronze are known that are nearly identical to the example presented here, and all must have come from the same structure (one now in the Louvre, acquired in 1952, pls. IV-V, fig. 3 in Parrot, “Acquisitions et Inédits du Musée du Louvre,” Syria, XXX, 1953; and one previously in the Ishiguro Collection, Tokyo, no. 245 in Amiet et al., Arts de l’ancien Iran). Harper (op. cit., p. 108) suggests that these busts may not be actual portraits of individual kings, but rather a “manifestation of the Sasanian concept of sacred kingship.”

Based on the surviving royal images from stone reliefs, silver plates, and more importantly, inscribed coins, specific kings can be identified by their unique crowns. Because a three dimensional depiction of a crown will differ from that seen in relief, it is not possible to say which king is represented by these three similar bronze busts, but Parrot (op. cit., 1955) has suggested either Peroz I (457-484 A.D.), Khosrow II (circa 590 A.D.) or Yazdegerd III (632-651 A.D.). For a carnelian seal depicting a king wearing a similar crown, identified by the accompanying inscription as Peroz, see no. 88 in Carter, et al., Arts of the Hellenized East. About his crown, Harper (in Carter, op. cit..) informs that its different elements are probably symbols of Zoroastrian divinities: the stepped crenellations represent Ohrmazd, the supreme deity, and Anahita, goddess of waters and fertility; the crescents are the symbol of the moon god, Mah; and the wings are symbols for Verethragna, god of victory. The form of the crown at least suggests a secure date between the 5th and 7th centuries A.D.