DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52594#0473
Roman Portraiture.
672. (I. N. 1578). Trajan. Colossal head. M.
H. 0.38. The vertex affixed in marble and evidently modern. Ears
and nose in plaster. Hair and chin damaged by weathering, the rest
of the surface polished. Acquired 1897 at Rome (from the estate of
the art dealer Martinetti).
A mild and congenial Trajan, excellently characterized.
This head is not only one of the best Trajan portraits, but
also one of the most outstanding representatives of the
renaissance of the artistic traditions of Augustus times. In
1891 Bernoulli counted a total of 66 portraits of Trajan and
none of the Glyptotek’s were among them, though they
amount to six in all (Nos. 543, 543 a and 671-74). Good
Trajan portraits are at Oslo (Arndt-Amelung 3331), in French
museums (Esperandieu: Recueil II pp. 61, 63, 64-65 etc.),
at Ostia and in Sardinia (Not. Scavi 1913 p. 132 fig. 9 and
228 figs. 2-3. 1919 p. 114 figs. 1-2), at Tarragona (Fr. Poul-
sen: Sculpt. Ant. Mus. Prov. Espagn. p. 39 and fig. 50), at
Piraeus (Bull. Com. LXI 1933, suppl. p. 37 seqq.).
Still, the friendly emperor frequently refused to allow
himself to be honoured by the erection of statues (Pliny:
Epist. ad Traianum 9).
Cf. also 671 and 673-74 and the publication by Gross
mentioned below.
Billedtavler pl. LV. W. H. Gross: Bildnisse Trajans pp. 75, 80 seq. 83
seq. 126 and pl. 10 b. West II p. 66 No. 3.
673. (I. N. 1477). Trajan. Small bust. M.
H. 0.29. The nose modern in marble. Acquired 1895 from Rome.
The emperor is wearing a strap for the sword across his
chest and the paludamentum, the general’s cloak, over the
left shoulder (cf. the bust in the Capitoline museum, B.
Delbriick: Antike Portrats pl. 41 and a bust at Venice, A. B.
739). Such a miniature bust may have had its place in a
shop or a private home (Friedlander: Sittengeschichte Boms8
I p. 309). The emperor has the same stern expression as
in the statue No. 543 a. The genuineness of the bust has
been questioned, without reason.
Billedtavler pl. LV. W. H. Gross: Bildnisse Trajans pp. 99-100. Fr. Poul-
sen, Gnomon 16, 19-40 p. 207. West II p. 67 No. 9.
469
672. (I. N. 1578). Trajan. Colossal head. M.
H. 0.38. The vertex affixed in marble and evidently modern. Ears
and nose in plaster. Hair and chin damaged by weathering, the rest
of the surface polished. Acquired 1897 at Rome (from the estate of
the art dealer Martinetti).
A mild and congenial Trajan, excellently characterized.
This head is not only one of the best Trajan portraits, but
also one of the most outstanding representatives of the
renaissance of the artistic traditions of Augustus times. In
1891 Bernoulli counted a total of 66 portraits of Trajan and
none of the Glyptotek’s were among them, though they
amount to six in all (Nos. 543, 543 a and 671-74). Good
Trajan portraits are at Oslo (Arndt-Amelung 3331), in French
museums (Esperandieu: Recueil II pp. 61, 63, 64-65 etc.),
at Ostia and in Sardinia (Not. Scavi 1913 p. 132 fig. 9 and
228 figs. 2-3. 1919 p. 114 figs. 1-2), at Tarragona (Fr. Poul-
sen: Sculpt. Ant. Mus. Prov. Espagn. p. 39 and fig. 50), at
Piraeus (Bull. Com. LXI 1933, suppl. p. 37 seqq.).
Still, the friendly emperor frequently refused to allow
himself to be honoured by the erection of statues (Pliny:
Epist. ad Traianum 9).
Cf. also 671 and 673-74 and the publication by Gross
mentioned below.
Billedtavler pl. LV. W. H. Gross: Bildnisse Trajans pp. 75, 80 seq. 83
seq. 126 and pl. 10 b. West II p. 66 No. 3.
673. (I. N. 1477). Trajan. Small bust. M.
H. 0.29. The nose modern in marble. Acquired 1895 from Rome.
The emperor is wearing a strap for the sword across his
chest and the paludamentum, the general’s cloak, over the
left shoulder (cf. the bust in the Capitoline museum, B.
Delbriick: Antike Portrats pl. 41 and a bust at Venice, A. B.
739). Such a miniature bust may have had its place in a
shop or a private home (Friedlander: Sittengeschichte Boms8
I p. 309). The emperor has the same stern expression as
in the statue No. 543 a. The genuineness of the bust has
been questioned, without reason.
Billedtavler pl. LV. W. H. Gross: Bildnisse Trajans pp. 99-100. Fr. Poul-
sen, Gnomon 16, 19-40 p. 207. West II p. 67 No. 9.
469