Head of an unknown man
- Date de création
- Approximately 215 - 220
- Material
- Göktepe marble, district 3 (Turkey)
- Dimensions
- H. 30 x l. 19 x P. 22 (cm)
- Inventory number
- Ra 69
This somewhat cubic and vigorously-shaped head, with its very particular expression, its hooded eyes beneath wide, open eyebrows, its right-looking, sideward glance, and its profile, with its low and rounded forehead, marked bridge of the nose, and short and receding lower lip, never fail to strike the viewer. The hair, laying very flat on the head, is combed into long strand that end in two points: a prelude to the « a penna » technique adopted between 215 and the 250s. All of this, along with the relatively short moustache, and the curly beard trimmed fairly low on the chin, all refer to a type of hairstyle and fashion that are characteristic of the middle and end of the Severan dynasty, of which a portrait, once displayed in the park of Villa Borghese, and now kept in the reserves of the Capitoline Museums (inv. 3387), provides a good example, and constitutes a precious stylistic parallel for the head in Toulouse.
On the other hand, the « 2. Thronfolgertypus » (or « Consulatstypus ») type portraits of Caracalla, dating back to 208 and later, with their albeit much shorter hairstyles and curly beards, also serve as a useful chronological marker. Several portraits produced during the second quarter of the same century have also been portrayed with their eyes looking sideward, their pupils and irises resolutely depicted in the corners of their eyes in a somewhat « expressionist » manner, which, as has often been said, is an expression of anxiety and even anguish in times of crisis, such as those in which the « soldier emperors » (Soldatenkaiser) had plunged the Empire.
According to J.-C. Balty 2020, Les Portraits Romains : L’époque des Sévères, Toulouse, p. 239-243.
Bibliography
- 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. 27-36, 239-243, fig. 20, 23
- 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
- Du Mège 1835 A. Du Mège, Description du musée des Antiques de Toulouse, Toulouse. no 217
- Du Mège 1828 A. Du Mège, Notice des monumens antiques et des objets de sculpture moderne conservés dans le musée de Toulouse, Toulouse. no 135
- Espérandieu 1908 É. Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, 2. Aquitaine, Paris. no 974
- Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris. no 313 E
- Meischneir 1984 J. Meischneir, « Privatporträts aus den regierungsjahren des Elegabal und Alexander Severus (218-235), » Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, 99, May. p. 319-351
- Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse. no 69
- Roschach 1892 E. Roschach, Catalogue des musées archéologiques de la ville de Toulouse : Musée des Augustins, Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse. no 69
To cite this notice
Capus P., "Head of an unknown man", in The sculptures of the roman villa of Chiragan, Toulouse, 2019, online <https://villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/en/ark:/87276/a_ra_69>.