Colossal Portrait of Hadrian

Roman art

This colossal portrait depicts the emperor Hadrian in his maturity. Some studies ascribe it to the Rollockenfrisur iconographic type, others to the Stazione Termini type, which are both distinguished by a conspicuous beard and curls.  

The work was significantly altered by conservation interventions quite likely operated when it was placed in the halls of the Palazzina after the Napoleonic appropriation. 

In 1783, Winckelmann described it as belonging to Palazzo Borghese in Campo Marzio, and in 1828 Canina mentioned it as present in the hall where it is still visible today.

Object details

Commentary

This portrait was mentioned by Winckelmann in 1783 as belonging to Palazzo Borghese in Campo Marzio (Winckelmann 1783–1784, p. 465), where it was exhibited alongside a portrait of Antonino Pio (Inv. L) in one of the two large niches in the Gallery (Fumagalli 1994, pp. 144–145). This location was confirmed by the 1812 inventory: ‘in two large niches in the Entrance Hall, there are two colossal ancient busts, one of Antonino Pio and the other of the emperor Hadrian’ (de Lachenal 1982, p. 104). After the Napoleonic raids, the two statues were moved into the Villa as part of the new decoration of the halls planned by Camillo Borghese. In 1828, Canina described the bust as being exhibited in the Entrance Hall, where it sits to this day (pp. 4–5); this location was confirmed in 1832 by Nibby, who specified that the relocation had happened ‘in recent times’. The author also related Visconti’s comparison of Hadrian’s head at Villa Borghese with the one held in the round hall of the Museo Pio Clementino in the Vatican, and his opinion that the former was superior by dimension, but the latter excelled in integrity and art (Nibby 1832, pp. 49–50; Visconti 1792, p. 60, XLV). The proportions of the head are colossal, the emperor portrayed in his maturity. The hair is tidily arranged in thick curls that frame the forehead in two opposing bands. The eyes, with the pupil carved on the bulb, are puffy, their lines deeply marked. The tense expression is underlined by wrinkles on the forehead. The cheeks are partially covered by a thick beard composed of short, unruly locks carved with chisel and drill, while the mouth is surmounted by a moustache parted down the middle. These features render it comparable with a similar juvenile head preserved at the Museo Nazionale Romano (inv. 124491: Gasparri 2013, pp. 182–183) and found near the Termini station. 

Winckelmann described this sculpture as ‘the most beautiful of those handed down to us’; Venturi, relating Helbig’s words, considered it ‘one of the most beautiful idealized portraits of this emperor’ (1893, p. 15). In 1891, Bernoulli was the first to question Winckelmann’s positive assessment, observing the many restorations operated on the piece (p. 112, no. 37). Similarly, though taking into account its ancient nucleus and ascribing this to the Rollockenfrisur type (characterized by curls uniformly framing the face and combed to the left), Wegner considered it ‘void of iconographic and artistic value’ (Wegner 1956, p. 113). Fittschen and Zancker ascribed the portrait to a different classification, the Stazione Termini type, based on the arrangement of the hair above the left ear (1994, p. 44, no. 46, note 5b). Finally, Evers seconded this assessment based on the observation of the complexity of the movement of the curls (1994, p. 180, no. 129). 

Official portraits of Hadrian present a great divide with those of his predecessor Trajan, especially in the strong connotation of the beard that combined the Hellenic tradition with the military spirit typical of the Romans. 

As for the Borghese sculpture, it has undergone many attempts at conservation, most likely when it was placed in these halls in the nineteenth century. Most noteworthy are the numerous integrations, among which the crown of curls on the forehead, and the extreme polish of the surface; furthermore, the head appears to have been set on a replacement bust. This tampering renders extremely arduous a precise analysis of the ancient nucleus as well as the formulation of a precise chronological placement, which however seems likely to be in the mid second century CE.  

Giulia Ciccarello