DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52594#0438
Roman Portraiture.
is supported by the fact that there is in any case one certain
replica of this princely portrait with the long eyes and the
narrow-lipped, sensitive mouth, namely the head on a statue
in the Vatican (Rom. Mitt. 50, 1935, pl. 45).
The identity of this child cannot be determined. Perhaps
the younger Drusus as a boy (cf. No. 633, especially eyes
and mouth). An earlier suggestion was a child portrait of the
elder Drusus, the father of Germanicus (644), younger brother
of Tiberius to whom Livia gave birth after she had moved to
the home of Augustus (Velleius Paterculus II 95, 1) and who
died not quite thirty years old during a campaign on the
Rhine (1. c. 97). The face, however, seems too sharp and
thin and resembles neither the coin portraits (Rernoulli:
Rom. Ikon. II I pl. XXXIII 5-7.) nor the definite portraits of
Drusus Major as a grown man (L. Curtius, Rom. Mitt. 50,
1935, pls. 30-36 and Fr. Poulsen: Sculpt. Ant. Mus, Prov.
Espagn. figs. 62-64. See under No. 629). A head at Naples is
more likely Drusus Major when a child; Fr. Poulsen: Portrat-
studien in norditalienischen Provinzmuseen figs. 115-16.
Billedtavler pl. LI. Fr. Poulsen: Sculpt. Ant. Mus. Prov. Espagn. p. 44
and figs. 65-66. L. Curtius, Rom. Mitt. L, 1935, pp. 272 and 290. Fr. Poul-
sen: Privatportrats pp. 32 and 34 seep L. Curtius, Mitteilungen I 1948 p. 66.
628. (I. N. 750). Emperor Nero. Head. M.
H. 0.27. Much damaged: The nose broken off, the ears likewise and
the surface as a whole in bad condition. All modern additions were
removed in 1949. Acquired 1892 from Rome.
As Bandinelli demonstrated, the head is of a well-known
portrait type of which the replica in best condition is in the
museum at Cagliari in Sardinia. Apparently it represented
a member of the imperial house of Claudius and a comparison
with coin pictures shows that it was meant to be the em-
peror Nero at a very young age.
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Agrippina the
younger, in the year 50 A. D. when thirteen years old was
adopted by his stepfather Claudius and assumed the name
of Nero Claudius Caesar Germanicus. Four years later he
ascended the throne. His portrait was impressed upon Roman
coins while »heir apparentcc, and evidently the Glyptotek’s
marble head is from that period of his life. Later his phy-
siognomy and his portraits underwent a great change.
434
is supported by the fact that there is in any case one certain
replica of this princely portrait with the long eyes and the
narrow-lipped, sensitive mouth, namely the head on a statue
in the Vatican (Rom. Mitt. 50, 1935, pl. 45).
The identity of this child cannot be determined. Perhaps
the younger Drusus as a boy (cf. No. 633, especially eyes
and mouth). An earlier suggestion was a child portrait of the
elder Drusus, the father of Germanicus (644), younger brother
of Tiberius to whom Livia gave birth after she had moved to
the home of Augustus (Velleius Paterculus II 95, 1) and who
died not quite thirty years old during a campaign on the
Rhine (1. c. 97). The face, however, seems too sharp and
thin and resembles neither the coin portraits (Rernoulli:
Rom. Ikon. II I pl. XXXIII 5-7.) nor the definite portraits of
Drusus Major as a grown man (L. Curtius, Rom. Mitt. 50,
1935, pls. 30-36 and Fr. Poulsen: Sculpt. Ant. Mus, Prov.
Espagn. figs. 62-64. See under No. 629). A head at Naples is
more likely Drusus Major when a child; Fr. Poulsen: Portrat-
studien in norditalienischen Provinzmuseen figs. 115-16.
Billedtavler pl. LI. Fr. Poulsen: Sculpt. Ant. Mus. Prov. Espagn. p. 44
and figs. 65-66. L. Curtius, Rom. Mitt. L, 1935, pp. 272 and 290. Fr. Poul-
sen: Privatportrats pp. 32 and 34 seep L. Curtius, Mitteilungen I 1948 p. 66.
628. (I. N. 750). Emperor Nero. Head. M.
H. 0.27. Much damaged: The nose broken off, the ears likewise and
the surface as a whole in bad condition. All modern additions were
removed in 1949. Acquired 1892 from Rome.
As Bandinelli demonstrated, the head is of a well-known
portrait type of which the replica in best condition is in the
museum at Cagliari in Sardinia. Apparently it represented
a member of the imperial house of Claudius and a comparison
with coin pictures shows that it was meant to be the em-
peror Nero at a very young age.
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Agrippina the
younger, in the year 50 A. D. when thirteen years old was
adopted by his stepfather Claudius and assumed the name
of Nero Claudius Caesar Germanicus. Four years later he
ascended the throne. His portrait was impressed upon Roman
coins while »heir apparentcc, and evidently the Glyptotek’s
marble head is from that period of his life. Later his phy-
siognomy and his portraits underwent a great change.
434