Part 2 Galerie des portraits

Bust of Geta as a boy

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Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Bust of Geta as a boy
Biographic data
198 - 211
Son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, brother of Caracalla
Date de création
Between 202 and 205
Type
of the "Munich-Toulouse" type
Material
Göktepe marble, district 3 (Turkey) for the head, and Altintaş marble (Turkey)
Dimensions
H. 58 x l. 45 x P. 27 (cm)
Inventory number
Ra 62

This lovely child’s head belongs to a series of eleven portraits that date back to a common original (« Urbild ») made in Rome in 198, and referred to as of the « Munich -Toulouse » type, as both cities boast a fine and specific specimen. This type was designed when Geta was awarded the title of Caesar, at the tender age of ten. This portrait was reproduced by the workshops in charge of distributing imperial images until 204. The slight differences from one work to another are intended to specify the age of the young prince during the few years in which the iconographic type was distributed.

In this case, the head and bust obviously do not belong together. The head appears too large for the size of the bust, and the type of pedestal clearly predates the portrait.

The outstanding portraits of Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, discovered in Villa Chiragan, date back to the same period; that is 198-204. But there are considerable differences between the images of the two brothers. Geta’s hair is certainly softer-looking, more finely honed, without the vigorously carved out volume that characterises the effigies of Severus and Caracalla. The actual design of the locks of hair is also quite different, and announces that of the « a penna » technique (small feather-shaped extremities) used on portraits made during the first third of the century.

According to J.-C. Balty 2020, Les Portraits Romains : L’époque des Sévères, Toulouse, p. 151-159.

Bibliography

  • Balty 1983 J.-C. Balty, « Style et Facture. Notes sur le portrait romain du IIIe siècle de notre ère, » Revue Archéologique, 2, pp. 301–314
    .     p. 306, fig. 10, p. 308
  • Balty, Cazes 2021 J.-C. Balty, D. Cazes, Les portraits romains, 1 : L’époque des Sévères, 1.3 (Sculptures antiques de Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane), Toulouse
    .     p. 16-20, 66-67, 152-159, fig. 8
  • 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. 40-41, fig. 38-40, p. 266, fig.198
  • Braemer 1952 F. Braemer, « Les portraits antiques trouvés à Martres-Tolosane, » Bulletin de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France, pp. 143–148
    .     p. 143-147
  • Budde 1951 L. Budde, Jugendbildnisse des Caracalla und Geta, Münster
    .     pl. 20
  • 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. 131
  • Du Mège 1835 A. Du Mège, Description du musée des Antiques de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .     no 208
  • Du Mège 1828 A. Du Mège, Notice des monumens antiques et des objets de sculpture moderne conservés dans le musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .     no 129
  • Espérandieu 1908 É. Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, 2. Aquitaine, Paris
    .     no 1011
  • Fittschen 1969 K. Fittschen, « Bemerkungen zu den Porträts des 3. Jahrhunderts nach Christus, » Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 84, pp. 198–236
    .     p. 197-236
  • Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris
    .     no 291 B
  • Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .     no 62
  • Roschach 1892 E. Roschach, Catalogue des musées archéologiques de la ville de Toulouse : Musée des Augustins, Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse
    .     no 62
  • Roschach 1865 E. Roschach, Catalogue des antiquités et des objets d’art, Toulouse
    .     no 62
  • Rosso 2006 E. Rosso, L’image de l’empereur en Gaule romaine : portraits et inscriptions (Archéologie et histoire de l’art), Paris
    .     p. 477-478, no 231
  • Wiggers, Wegner 1971 H.B. Wiggers, M. Wegner, Caracalla, Geta Plautilla (Das römische Herrscherbild. 3. Abt), Berlin
    .     p. 97, 112, pl. 26 c-d
  • 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. 195-6, 199

To cite this notice

Capus P., "Bust of Geta as a boy", in The sculptures of the roman villa of Chiragan, Toulouse, 2019, online <https://villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/en/ark:/87276/a_ra_62>.