1981.169, Head of a young man, Roman, second century C.E., marble

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

By the 1st century B.C., the city of Rome had become the center of a large empire covering the entire Mediterranean world. Like the Etruscans before them, the Romans admired Greek art; they carried Greek art treasures to Italy and patronized imitations or copies of Greek works. However, their native taste for realistic, historically oriented art led to a new, Roman style. The Emperor Trajan (CE 98-117) had a distinctive, combed-forward hairstyle that was emulated throughout the Roman Empire by private individuals such as the subject of this portrait. During the reign of Trajan's successor, Hadrian (C.E. 117-138), sculptors began to carve the pupils and iris of the eye; previously they had been painted but not incised into the marble. This work accordingly appears to date from early in Hadrian's reign and probably surmounted a bust. Typical of the time is a smooth, polished face, lightly indicated eyebrows, and a calm expression.

By the time this sculpture was made, portraiture had crystallized as a distinctive type of Roman art, in keeping with the Roman interest in family lineage. This powerful image of a young man demonstrates the strong sense of psychological reality to be found in portraits of the Roman Empire.

Adapted from

DMA unpublished material, Label text [1981.169], transcribed November 2016.

NOTES

added gods men hero essay to TMS

Catalogue essays

Roman portrait head of a young man

Roman Portrait Sculpture

Rome: Art in an Imperial Society

Artist/designers

Cultures

The Romans

Geography

Process/materials

Historical periods

Italic and Roman Chronology

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

Until 1981: Private collection

From 1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, anonymous gift in memory of Edward Marcus [1], [2]

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

[2] See Acquisition Record in Collections Records Object File 1981.169

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

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ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

Because of its remote and haughty expression, this sculpture was referred to as the portrait of a "spoiled brat" in an academic publication. The head belongs to a series of portraits of boys and young men which extends from ca. 100-130 C.E., some of them with similar facial features and expressions.
It is likely that the pupils and irises of the eyes were not original to the sculpture, drilled at a later date. Because portraits like these would've been painted in antiquity, it is probable that a later owner incised the eyes to give it a more realistic appearance.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 1981.169

General Description

By the 1st century B.C., the city of Rome had become the center of a large empire covering the entire Mediterranean world. Like the Etruscans before them, the Romans admired Greek art; they carried Greek art treasures to Italy and patronized imitations or copies of Greek works. However, their native taste for realistic, historically oriented art led to a new, Roman style. The Emperor Trajan (CE 98-117) had a distinctive, combed-forward hairstyle that was emulated throughout the Roman Empire by private individuals such as the subject of this portrait. During the reign of Trajan's successor, Hadrian (C.E. 117-138), sculptors began to carve the pupils and iris of the eye; previously they had been painted but not incised into the marble. This work accordingly appears to date from early in Hadrian's reign and probably surmounted a bust. Typical of the time is a smooth, polished face, lightly indicated eyebrows, and a calm expression.