Portrait of a child
- Date de création
- AD 240s
- Material
- Göktepe marble, district 4 (Turkey)
- Dimensions
- H. 28 x l. 21 x P. 15 (cm)
- Inventory number
- Ra 167
This fine portrait is unfortunately badly damaged, broken horizontally at jaw level. Both parts have since been reunited, and the break has been filled in, although the tip of the nose, chin and left cheek are now lost.
This child has been connected to the female portrait that was believed to depict Otacilia Severa, wife of Emperor Philip the Arab, or, more probably, Tranquillina, who was married to Gordian III (inv. Ra 166). This presumed relationship is based on a few aspects that are common to both works: the pleated fabric of the tunic, the small round buttons that fasten it above the shoulder, and the double dot of the pupils of the eyes. However, although the female portrait is indeed that of Tranquillina, it is difficult to associate this little boy with her, as the imperial couple had no children.
D. Cazes
Bibliography
- 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. 141
- Espérandieu 1908 É. Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, 2. Aquitaine, Paris. p. 88, no 997
- Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris. p. 219-300, XXV pl., fig. 274 E
- Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse. no 167
To cite this notice
Capus P., "Portrait 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_167>.