Part 2 Galerie des portraits

Bust of a young man

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Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Bust of a young man
Date de création
Between 120 and 130
Material
Göktepe marble, district 4 (Turkey)
Dimensions
H. 66 x l. 45 x P. 28 (cm)
Inventory number
Ra 73 b

The face and hairstyle of this young man appear to emulate those of the first portraits of Hadrian. Furthermore, in terms of chronologically the entire bust coincides with the beginning of Hadrian’s reign. The piedouche (plinth) is now decorated with volutes, and a new fashion has emerged in the form of bearded faces. Like Emperor Hadrian, as depicted in his first iconographic type, this young man wears a chinstrap beard. This face can therefore be compared to one of the portraits on the Arch of Trajan in Benevento in the comune of Campania, on the attic on the upper parts of the monument, which is generally believed to be that of Hadrian (the reliefs are thought to have been completed after Trajan’s death, at the very beginning of his successor’s reign).

The naked bust resembles a mythological hero, just like several other contemporary works depicting young people. The hair is shown to have more volume than that of the male bust inv. Ra 73a, without, however, being as thick as those of the various iconographic types adopted for Trajan’s successor, and is devoid of the characteristic back-to-front wave-like movement and the « baroque » scrolls. This is therefore a pivotal moment at the beginning of Hadrian’s reign: a new form of bust and pedestal, a new way of breathing life into, and adding sparkle to, the gaze of portrayed figures, and a new fashion in facial hair.

According to J.-C. Balty 2012, Les portraits romains, 1 : Le siècle des Antonins, 1.2 (Sculptures antiques de Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane), Toulouse, p. 131-143.

Bibliography

  • Balty, Cazes 2005 J.-C. Balty, D. Cazes, Les portraits romains, 1 : Époque julio-claudienne, 1.1 (Sculptures antiques de Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane), Toulouse
    .
    p. 44, fig. 15
  • 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. 15, fig.4-5, p.133-136, 139, 141, fig. 59-63, 69-71
  • 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
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    p. 123
  • Du Mège 1835 A. Du Mège, Description du musée des Antiques de Toulouse, Toulouse
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    no 189 ou 190
  • Du Mège 1828 A. Du Mège, Notice des monumens antiques et des objets de sculpture moderne conservés dans le musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
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    no 118
  • Graillot 1908 H. Graillot, « La villa romaine de Martres-Tolosane, villa Aconiana, » Annales du Midi, 20, pp. 20–77, 17 p.
  • Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris
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    no 265
  • Massendari 2006 J. Massendari, La Haute-Garonne : hormis le Comminges et Toulouse 31/1 (Carte archéologique de la Gaule), Paris
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    p. 243, fig. 104
  • Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
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    no 73 b
  • Roschach 1892 E. Roschach, Catalogue des musées archéologiques de la ville de Toulouse : Musée des Augustins, Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse
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    no 73 a-b
  • 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
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    p. 80

To cite this notice

Capus P., "Bust of a young man", in The sculptures of the roman villa of Chiragan, Toulouse, 2019, online <https://villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/en/ark:/87276/a_ra_73_b>.