Portrait of a Woman on a Modern Bust
This head belongs to a woman with clearly defined features, almond shaped eyes and small, fleshy pursed lips. Above her triangular forehead, her hair is parted into two wavy strands, while the back of her head is elegantly veiled. This portrait seems to recall the imperial iconography of Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian, very popular at the time of her divinization, between 137 and 139 CE.
Restored by Felice Festa in 1820, since 1828 this bust has been exhibited alongside another six in an oval niche in the wall of Room 1.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
Classification
Medium
Dimensions
height with bust 54 cm; head height 35 cm
Provenance
Borghese Collection, mentioned in 1820 among the pieces entrusted to Felice Festa for restoration, in 1828 it is cited in a niche in room 1 alongside another six busts (Moreno, Sforzini 1987, p. 348; Nomenclatura degli oggetti di antica scultura: Moreno 1997, p. 92). Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, C., p. 44, no. 50. Purchased by the Italian State, 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
- 1820 - Felice Festa
- 1996 - Consorzio Capitolino
Commentary
This female head placed on a modern bust is facing forward. The head is veiled and slightly turned to the right. The features inscribed in the oval are well-defined. The triangular forehead is narrow, the cheekbones prominent. The fine arched eyebrows merge into the bridge of a linear, slender-ridged nose that broadens towards the bottom. The eyes are almond-shaped, the eyeballs smooth, surmounted by puffy eyelids. The mouth presents small, fleshy pursed lips. Under the veil, the hair is arranged in soft, wavy strands, parted symmetrically down the middle.
Based on the correspondence of the features, the type of the portrait seems to be ascribable to the official iconography of Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian, extremely popular during the last years of his rule. The models for this type were two portraits, one found at the Vatican Museums in the Hall of Busts (inv. 359: Bernoulli 1891, p. 129, no. 4, pl. XL), the other at the Museo Nazionale Romano (inv. 725: Felletti Maj 1953, p. 102, no. 195). In a broad study devoted to the portraits of Vibia Sabina, Wegner recalls another two sculptures that appear to be comparable with the Borghese specimen, albeit with some variations, both of which are preserved at the Museo Nazionale Romano (Felletti Maj 1953, inv. 727: p. 103, no. 197; inv. 577: p. 103, no. 196; Wegner 1956, pp. 84–91, 129 pls. 44–45). According to Carandini’s typological and chronological subdivision of the depictions of the Empress, based mainly on minted coins, the Borghese specimen seems to be connected to the production of statues that followed Sabina’s divinisation (iconographic period IX, 137–139 CE: Carandini 1969, pp. 99–101).
This sculpture was mentioned in 1820 among a series of busts entrusted to Felice Festa for restoration: ‘seven busts, the pediments of which must be refitted and the missing ones remade, the busts themselves should be restored where they are lacking, polished with lead, and the mixed marbles shined, for the artist may not use paint or other compositions to give them lustre’ (B. 1005, no. 158: Moreno, Sforzini 1987, p. 348). In 1828 it was cited, alongside another six busts, in the Nomenclatura degli oggetti di antica scultura, located in a niche in Room 1 (Moreno 1997, p. 92); this placement was confirmed by Nibby in 1841 (p. 913). Calza dated the head to the late first century BCE, but Moreno refuted this dating, as he identified its features with the portrait of Vibia Sabina (1957, p. 13, no. 106; Moreno, Viacava 2003, p. 162, no. 132).
Taking into account the relevance of the cited comparisons, the sculpture appears to be datable between 137 and 139 CE, the period in which the empress was likely consecrated (Perret 1935, p. 64, note 5).
Giulia Ciccarello
Bibliography
- Indicazione delle opere antiche di scultura esistenti nel primo piano della Villa Borghese, Roma 1840, p. 10.
- A. Nibby, Roma nell’anno 1838, Roma 1841, p. 913.
- Indicazione delle opere antiche di scultura esistenti nel primo piano della Villa Borghese”, Roma 1854 (1873), p. 12.
- J.J. Bernoulli, Römische Ikonographie. Die Bildnisse der römischen Kaiser und ihrer Angehörigen : von Galba bis Commodus, 1891, p. 129, n. 4, tav. XL.
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 21.
- G. Giusti, The Borghese Gallery and the Villa Umberto I in Rome, Città di Castello 1919, p. 32.
- L. Perret, Essai sur la carrière d'Hadrien jusqu'à son avènement à l'Empire (76-117), in “Extrait des Mémoires de la société nationale des Antiquaires de France”, IX, 1935, p. 64, nota 5.
- B. M. Felletti Maj, Museo Nazionale Romano. I ritratti, Roma 1953, p. 102, n. 195.
- P. Della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese in Roma, (3° Edizione), Roma 1954, p. 8.
- M. Wegner, Hadrian, Plotina, Marciana, Sabina, in “Das römische Herrscherbild”, 3, Berlino 1956, pp. 84-91, 129 tavv. 44-45.
- R. Calza, Catalogo del Gabinetto fotografico Nazionale, Galleria Borghese, Collezione degli oggetti antichi, Roma 1957, p. 13, n. 106.
- A. Carandini, Vibia Sabina: funzione politica, iconografia e il problema del classicismo adrianeo, Firenze 1969.
- P. Moreno, Museo e Galleria Borghese, La collezione archeologica, Roma 1980, p. 12.
- P. Moreno, S. Staccioli, Le collezioni della Galleria Borghese, Milano 1981, p. 101.
- P. Moreno, C. Sforzini, I ministri del principe Camillo: cronaca della collezione Borghese di antichità dal 1807 al 1832, in “Scienze dell’Antichità”, 1, 1987, p. 348.
- P. Moreno, L’antico nella stanza, in “Venere Vincitrice, La sala di Paolina Bonaparte alla Galleria Borghese”, a cura di C. Strinati, Roma 1997, p. 92.
- P. Moreno, C. Stefani, Galleria Borghese, Milano 2000, p. 79, n. 22.
- P. Moreno, A. Viacava, I marmi antichi della Galleria Borghese. La collezione archeologica di Camillo e Francesco Borghese, Roma 2003, p. 162, n. 132.
- Schede di catalogo 12/99000049, G. Ciccarello 2020.
