Portrait of Antoninus Pius
This colossal portrait depicts the emperor Antoninus Pius in the so-called ‘Vatican-Greek Cross 595’ type, with curls arranged on his forehead in the shape of a comma pointing left and the features of an obviously mature man. Wegner considered this type contemporary to the celebration of the decennalia that took place in 148 CE, which is also the date to which the Borghese specimen is ascribed.
This sculpture, carved from a single block, was considerably ruined by conservation attempts likely carried out when it was moved into the city Palazzo during the eighteenth-century renovations, and then to the Palazzina after the Napoleonic looting.
In the inventory of 1812, it is mentioned in the Palazzo Borghese in Campo Marzio, while in 1828 it is cited by Canina in the Entrance Hall of the Villa, where it is visible to this day, a pair with the equally colossal portrait of Hadrian.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
Classification
Medium
Dimensions
height with bust 132 cm; head height 90 cm
Provenance
Borghese Collection, mentioned in the eighteenth century in Palazzo Borghese in Campo Marzio (de Lachenal 1982, App. II, p. 104; Fumagalli 1994, pp. 144–145) and in the Villa in 1828 in the Entrance Hall (Canina, pp. 4–5). Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, C., p. 43, no. 30. Purchased by the Italian State, 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
- 18th or 19th century - Interventions on the forehead, in the curls around, and in the beard.
- 1994-95 - Paola Mastropasqua
Commentary
This colossal head was once housed in Palazzo Borghese in Campo Marzio together with the equally colossal portrait of Hadrian (inv. IIL), set in one of the large niches in the Gallery furnished during the renovation of the building carried out between 1767–1775, when Marcantonio IV married Anna Maria Salviati. The portrait was documented in the Palazzo in 1796, when the painter Agostino Tofanelli was paid for the drawings necessary to duplicate an engraving of the emperor’s head (Fumagalli 1994, pp. 144–145). This location was confirmed by the 1812 Inventario: ‘in two large niches on the Entrance Hall floor there are two colossal ancient busts, one of Antoninus Pius, the other of the emperor Hadrian, with a base of various types of marble’ (AAV, Arch. Borghese 309, no. 115, Inventario 1812, c. 18v: de Lachenal 1982, App. II, p. 104). During the new arrangement of the rooms conducted by Camillo Borghese after the Napoleonic sale, they were transferred to the Villa. In 1828, Canina cited the head exhibited in the Entrance Hall where it still is today (p. 5). This location was confirmed in 1832 by Nibby, who considered the sculpture to be the work of the same artist who crafted Hadrian’s head ‘for it employs the same marble, style and workmanship’, while ‘for craft and size’ he considers it superior to the replicas found in the Vatican, in the Capitoline Museums or in the Museum in Naples.
The author further related that Visconti, having compared the Borghese head of Antoninus Pius with the one present in the Museo Pio Clementino in the Vatican, considered it ‘no less worthy in craft or size’ (Nibby 1832, pp. 51–52, no. 12; Visconti 1792, p. 63, XLVIII).
The colossal head, carved out of a single block of marble, depicts the emperor at a mature age. The hair seems to be treated varyingly, with some locks delicately chiselled for a refined pictorial effect on the top of the head, while the strands on the front are more polished. The eyes, the pupil carved into the eyeball, are swollen and deeply marked. The expression is mild and benevolent, a feature enhanced by the upward cast of the eyes and the deep lines on the forehead and around the mouth. Inside the arch traced by the eyebrows, we may observe the deep furrows left by the chisel prior to the treatment of the surface. The original craftsmanship is also visible in the beard, in the area under the chin where the left jaw is attached, while the same area on the right has been reworked. When the sculpture was placed in the halls of the museum in the nineteenth century, it must have undergone a restoration that is mainly evident from the extremely polished surface.
The portrait depicts the emperor’s features in the ‘Greek Cross 595’ type, the original of which comes from Ostia and is preserved in the Greek Cross Hall at the Vatican (Calza 1964, pp. 86–88, no. 137, pl. LXXXII). This iconographic model is recognisable from the simple, asymmetrical arrangement of the hair on the forehead, with the curls slanting to the left and forming a comma on the frontal eminences. Wagner believed it to have been produced at the time of the decennalia celebrated in 148 CE to honour the emperor (1939, pp. 23–25). It seems we may confirm this dating for the Borghese portrait as well.
Venturi considered the sculpture an antique, ‘tarnished’ by modern conservation (1893, p. 15). Observing the highly polished features, Helbig ascribed it to the Antoninus style (1913, p. 235, no. 1535). Wegner considered it a replica of the Vatican type, but observed an ambivalence in the workmanship of the hair and of the beard, the chiselling of which is more linear, and expressed some doubts as to its authenticity (1939, p. 149).
Giulia Ciccarello
Bibliography
- G. A. Visconti, E.Q. Visconti, Il Museo Pio-Clementino, vol. VI, Roma 1792, p. 63, XLVIII.
- L. Canina, Le nuove fabbriche della Villa Borghese denominata Pinciana, Roma 1828, p. 5.
- A. Nibby, Monumenti scelti della Villa Borghese, Roma 1832, pp. 51-52, n. 12.
- Indicazione delle opere antiche di scultura esistenti nel primo piano della Villa Borghese, Roma 1840, p. 9, n. 16.
- A. Nibby, Roma nell’anno 1838, Roma 1841, p. 913, n. 16.
- Indicazione delle opere antiche di scultura esistenti nel primo piano della Villa Borghese”, Roma 1854 (1873), p. 11, n. 16.
- J. J. Bernoulli, Römische Ikonographie, 2. Die Bildnisse der römischen Kaiser, 2, von Galba bis Commodus, Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig 1891, pp. 142, 149.
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 15.
- G. Giusti, The Borghese Gallery and the Villa Umberto I in Rome, Città di Castello 1904, p. 29.
- W. Helbig, Führer durch die Öffentlichen Sammlungen klassischer Altertümer in Rom, (3° edizione), a cura di W. Amelung, II, Leipzig 1913, p. 235, n. 1535.
- A. De Rinaldis, La R. Galleria Borghese in Roma, Roma 1935, p. 6.
- M. Wegner, Die Herrscherbildnisse in antoninischer Zeit, in “Das römische Herrscherbild”, II, Berlin 1939, p. 149.
- P. Della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese in Roma, (3° Edizione), Roma 1954, p. 7.
- R. Calza, Catalogo del Gabinetto fotografico Nazionale, Galleria Borghese, Collezione degli oggetti antichi, Roma 1957, p. 15, n. 145.
- R. Calza, Scavi di Ostia, V, 1. I ritratti. Ritratti greci e romani fino al 160 circa d.C., Roma 1964
- M. Wegner, Verzeichnis der Kaiserbildnisse von Antoninus Pius bis Commodus, in “Boreas. Münstersche Beiträge zur Archäologie”, 2, 1979, p. 119.
- B. M. Felletti Maj, Antonino Pio, in “Enciclopedia dell’Arte Antica Classica e Orientale”, Roma 1958, I.
- P. Moreno, S. Staccioli, Museo e Galleria Borghese. La collezione archeologica, Roma 1980, p. 10.
- L. de Lachenal, La collezione di sculture antiche della famiglia Borghese e il palazzo in Campo Marzio, 1982, in “Xenia”, 4, pp. 77, 79, 104 (Appendice IX, Salone grande).
- P. Moreno, C. Sforzini, I ministri del principe Camillo: cronaca della collezione Borghese di antichità dal 1807 al 1832, in “Scienze dell’Antichità, Storia, Archeologia, Antropologia”, I, 1987, p. 340.
- E. Fumagalli, Palazzo Borghese, committenza e decorazione privata, Roma 1994, pp. 144-145.
- P. Moreno, Ch. Stefani, Galleria Borghese, Milano 2000, p. 59, n. 20.
- P. Moreno, A. Viacava, I marmi antichi della Galleria Borghese. La collezione archeologica di Camillo e Francesco Borghese, Roma 2003, pp. 131-132, n. 96.
- Schede di catalogo 12/ 01008360, P. Moreno; aggiornamento G. Ciccarello 2020.
