Part 2 Galerie des portraits

Portrait of Caracalla as a child

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Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Portrait of Caracalla as a child
Biographic data
188 - 217
Son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, brother of Geta. Emperor
Date de création
200 - 205
Type
Of the "Arcus Argentariorum" type, or "Successor Type II"
Material
Göktepe marble, district 3 (Turkey)
Dimensions
H. 25 x l. 17,5 x P. 19 (cm)
Inventory number
Ra 168

This head discovered at Villa Chiragan may have belonged to a full-length statue. Like the other portrait of the same prince (inv. Ra 119), this work is similar to the one portrayed on the Arcus Argentariorum in Rome. Yet the Chiragan portrait is more refined, and more typical of an adolescent youth. The hair is flatter and distinguished, in particular, by the tapered strand above the right eye. The characteristics of the hair as well as the shape of the face are comparable to the Bust of child Caracalla discovered in Markouna, Algeria, inv. Ma 1173 (MNB 782), the Louvre, Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons CC BYportrait discovered in Markuna, Algeria, now in the Louvre. Thus, while its type is still the same as the one on the Arcus Argentariorum, to which the other portrait of Caracalla as a child discovered in Chiragan (inv. Ra 119) is also associated, the date in which it was designed should, in this case, be lowered somewhat, preferably to the years 200-205.

A third incomplete portrait of Septimius Severus’s son at a later age is now kept in the reserves (inv. 2000.32.1). Finding several representations of Caracalla on the same site is quite exceptional.

According to J.-C. Balty 2020, Les Portraits Romains : L’époque des Sévères, Toulouse, p. 140-144.

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. 267, fig. 200
  • Braemer 1952 F. Braemer, « Les portraits antiques trouvés à Martres-Tolosane, » Bulletin de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France, pp. 143–148
    .     p. 143-148
  • 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. 130
  • Espérandieu 1908 É. Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, 2. Aquitaine, Paris
    .     no 999
  • Fittschen 1969 K. Fittschen, « Bemerkungen zu den Porträts des 3. Jahrhunderts nach Christus, » Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 84, pp. 198–236
    .     p. 197 à 236
  • Fittschen, Zanker 1985 K. Fittschen, P. Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom, Mainz
    .     no 86 p. 99
  • Ghisellini, De Lachenal, Nista 1988 E. Ghisellini, L. De Lachenal, L. Nista, Museo nazionale romano : I, Le sculture. 9,2, Magazzini i ritratti, Rome
    .     p. 336-338
  • Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris
    .     no 304 E
  • Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .     no 168
  • Rosso 2006 E. Rosso, L’image de l’empereur en Gaule romaine : portraits et inscriptions (Archéologie et histoire de l’art), Paris
    .     p. 475-477, no 230
  • Wiggers, Wegner 1971 H.B. Wiggers, M. Wegner, Caracalla, Geta Plautilla (Das römische Herrscherbild. 3. Abt), Berlin
    .     p. 46, 87
  • von Heintze 1966 H. von Heintze, « Studien zu den Porträts des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., 7. Caracalla, Geta, Elagabal und Severus Alexander, » Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Römische Abteilung (MDAIR), 66, 73-74, pp. 190–231
    .     p. 199

To cite this notice

Capus P., "Portrait of Caracalla as a child", in The sculptures of the roman villa of Chiragan, Toulouse, 2019, online <https://villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/en/ark:/87276/a_ra_168>.