Portrait of a Woman on a non-ancient bust

Roman art

This head of a woman, inserted in a non-ancient bust, features an oval face with a thin, closed mouth, small eyes with heavy eyelids and hair arranged in an elaborate style comprising a voluminous forelock divided into three parts and the rest of the hair gathered in a low chignon held at the nape of the neck in a net. This ‘nodus’ hairstyle, which had no precedent in the Greek world and was typical in the late Republican period, but fashionable until the Tiberian age, allows us to date the Borghese head to the Augustan period, when it was especially popular, including in images of Augustas, specifically Octavia the Younger (Octavian’s sister) and Livia, her sister-in-law.

Object details

Commentary

This female head, inserted with part of the original neck in a non-ancient bust, is of unknown provenance and was placed on the stucco shelves in the portico when Camillo Borghese had the collection reinstalled in the Casino, after it had been stripped by the sale of ancient works to his brother-in-law Napoleon Bonaparte. The figure’s lean face narrows at the chin. The eyebrows are barely indicated with scratched lines, the smooth, bulging eyes have heavy eyelids carved with metal-like precision, the nose is aquiline and the thin mouth is closed. Her hair is gathered in a sophisticated style with a voluminous bun on the forehead (nodus) divided into three parts, the middle of which seems to escape the small clip that holds it. The front of the head is covered in a network of fine hair that conceals the braid that extends from the nodus to the nape of the neck, where it is gathered in a low chignon held in a net. This ‘nodus’ hairstyle, which had no precedent in the Greek world and was typical in the late Republican period, provides us with a terminus post quem for the dating of the head. Introduced by Fulvia, Antony’s first wife, it was then adopted by Octavia the Younger, Octavian’s sister, on her coins in 40 BCE and her sister-in-law, Livia (see Capaldi 2009, p. 202). The style was also found in private portraits starting in the second half of the first century BCE, during the Tiberian period. Unlike the latter, the portraits of the Augustas featured hair arranged in waves and full at the temples, with soft locks hanging freely down the sides of the neck (see the portrait of Octavia from Velletri, Buccino 2011, pp. 386–387). A similar style, with a bun on the forehead divided into three parts, is found on a portrait head from Fano that can be dated to the middle of the Augustan period (Mascolo 2011) and the Borghese example probably dates to the same time.

Jessica Clementi