Bust of a child
- Date de création
- Approximately 130 - 140
- Material
- Göktepe marble, district 3 (Turkey)
- Dimensions
- H. 31 x l. 18 x P. 17 (cm)
- Inventory number
- Ra 124
Despite the large diagonal break on the front part of the skull, which partially disfigures the work, this head is one of the loveliest images of childhood. The thick mop of wavy hair is beautifully offset by the smooth face and very finely modelled naked bust.
Attempting to date such a work is no easy feat. Although the smooth surface of the eyes, which were certainly painted, would seem to exclude it having been made after AD 130, which is when sculptors started engraving irises and pupils, it should be noted that some later portraits were still devoid of such details; the portrait of Antoninus being one such example. The movement imparted to the sickle-shaped strands of hair, the shape of the bust and the still embryonic top of the arms, all contribute towards dating this impressive and beautifully rendered work to the second part of Hadrian’s reign. There was a great deal of variety in private portraits at that time, which is why they are difficult to date with any accuracy.
Roman art was very good at rendering the delicate features of the mischievous and often dreamy faces of little children. In affluent families, the images of the latter were set in stone during their lifetime in order to complete a series of sculpture portraits of the entire family, as a way of emulating those of the imperial household (domus Augusta) in which children appeared very early on, as shown by the partly extant 
imperial statuary group of Béziers, or those only mentioned in Thespiae. Unfortunately, the identity of this little boy remains a mystery. We can only assume that he was the son of a high-ranking official of the Roman Empire.
According to J.-C. Balty 2012, Les portraits romains, 1 : Le siècle des Antonins, 1.2 (Sculptures antiques de Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane), Toulouse, p. 185-194.
Bibliography
- Balty, Cazes, Rosso 2012 J.-C. Balty, D. Cazes, E. Rosso, Les portraits romains, 1 : Le siècle des Antonins, 1.2 (Sculptures antiques de Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane), Toulouse. p. 67-69, fig. 64-67, p. 187-190, 192-194, fig. 113-119, 121-122
- Cazes et al. 1999 D. Cazes, E. Ugaglia, V. Geneviève, L. Mouysset, J.-C. Arramond, Q. Cazes, Le Musée Saint-Raymond : musée des Antiques de Toulouse, Toulouse-Paris. p. 122
- Espérandieu 1908 É. Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, 2. Aquitaine, Paris. p. 84, no 988
- Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris. p. 331, pl. XVIII, no 273 D
- Lebègue 1892 A. Lebègue, « Notice sur les fouilles de Martres-Tolosane, » Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques, 1, 1, p. 29. p. 415, pl. XXIX, no 4
- Massendari 2006 J. Massendari, La Haute-Garonne : hormis le Comminges et Toulouse 31/1 (Carte archéologique de la Gaule), Paris. p. 249, fig. 116
- Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse. no 124
- Musée Saint-Raymond 2011 Musée Saint-Raymond, L’image et le pouvoir : le siècle des Antonins. Exhibition, Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse, 19 November 2011 - 18 March 2012, Toulouse. p. 82-83
- Musée Saint-Raymond 1995 Musée Saint-Raymond, Le regard de Rome : portraits romains des musées de Mérida, Toulouse et Tarragona. Exhibition, Mérida, Museo nacional de arte romano ; Toulouse, Musée Saint-Raymond ; Tarragone, Museu nacional arqueològic de Tarragona, 1995, Toulouse. p. 50, no 10
To cite this notice
Capus P., "Bust of a child", in The sculptures of the roman villa of Chiragan, Toulouse, 2019, online <https://villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/en/ark:/87276/a_ra_124>.