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A Late Roman Portrait Head

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Rosemarie Miescher
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Extract

The Greek and Roman Department of the British Museum has acquired a Roman portrait head in alabaster of unknown provenience, 16·5 cm. in height (pll. XVII, XVIII, 1). The eyebrows and chin are chipped and the nose is missing. The colour varies from ivory to light brown, and the softness of the alabaster has permitted very delicate surface modelling. The head is that of an old man with short hair, which lies in concentric circles around the head, and a laurel wreath tied in a knot at the back. The worn face shows a pronounced asymetry which emphasizes its individuality. Under the broad rectangular forehead the eyes are deep set and underlined by dark shadows. The Adam's apple protrudes and is emphasized by the slack skin of the throat.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 1-2 , November 1953 , pp. 101 - 103
Copyright
Copyright ©Rosemarie Miescher 1953. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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Footnotes

*

This paper is published with the permission of the Trustees of the British Museum and the Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Mr. Bernard Ashmole, to whom I wish to express my gratitude for his generous help. My thanks also go to Dr. Herbert Cahn and Mr. Peter Lasko for kind assistance.

References

1 Kaschnitz-Weinberg, G. v., Die Antike II, 1926, 36 ff.Google Scholar; R. Delbrueck, Antike Porphyrwerke; L'Orange, H. P., Acta Archaeologica, II, 1931, 29 ff.Google Scholar; and Studien zur Geschichte des spätantiken Porträts; Maurice, J., Numismatique Constantinienne I, 18 ff.Google Scholar; J. J. Bernoulli, Römische Ikonographie.

2 Espérandieu, Recueil Général IX, no. 7028. H. 16 cm.; preservation good except for the missing nose. No better photograph could be obtained.

3 H. 13 cm. S. Eitrem, Antikksamlingen no. 58; and Kunst og Kultur XIII, 1926, 209ff.Google Scholar L'Orange, H. P. Symbolae Osloenses VIII, 1929, 100 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Studien, 102.

4 Espérandieu, Recueil X, no. 7435.

5 B.M. Catalogue of Engraved Gems and Cameos no. 3620. Reproduced here for the first time (photograph, taken from a plaster cast, by Dr. Herbert Cahn).

6 The porphyry groups in Venice and Rome and the medallion at Spalato can only be considered as very generalized representations of the tetrarchs.

7 L'Orange, H. P., Symb. Osl. VIII, 1929, 100 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Röm. Mitt. XLIV, 1929, 180 ff.Google Scholar; Fuhrmann, H., Röm. Mitt. LIII, 1938, 35 ff.Google Scholar; Doerner, F. K., Die Antike XVII, 1941, 139 ff.Google Scholar; Curtius, L., JHS. LXXI, 1951, 28 ffGoogle Scholar.

8 L'Orange, H. P., Röm. Mitt. XLIV, 1929, 180 ffGoogle Scholar.

9 Doerner, F. K., Die Antike, XVII, 1941, 139 ffGoogle Scholar.

10 J. Maurice, Numis. Const. 1, pl. 2.

11 Plate XVIII, 4 : aureus in the British Museum, struck at Treveri, May 305–July 306, from the Arras hoard; rev. HERCVLI CONSER AVGG ET CAESS NN. TR. Cohen 146; A. Baldwin-Brett, Num. Chron. 1933, p. 329, 124 (pl. 25, 16). Photograph taken from a plaster cast by Dr. H. Cahn. Plate XVIII, 5 : aureus sold in Auction XI (see Münzen und Medaillen A. G. Basle, cat. no. 153) struck at Treveri, May 305–July 306, from the Arras hoard, rev. CONCORDIA AVGG ET CAESS NN TR. Not in Cohen. Baldwin-Brett, Numis. Const., P. 331, 130. Photograph taken from the original by Dr. H. Cahn. Cf. also the gold medallions from the Arras hoard. A. J. Evans, Num. Chron. 1930, pl. 16, 1 and 6.

12 Espérandieu, Recueil X, 7435.