February 15, 2014
Description
Marble bust of the emperor Hadrian
Period: Hadrianic
Date: ca. A.D. 118 - 120
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: H. 18 13/16 in. (47.8 cm)
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Collection of Shelby White and Leon Levy
Accession Number: L.2007.8.2
This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 162
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/257689
Scanned with 123DCatch on iPhone 5S on 26 January 2014.
Found in Hadrian's villa at Tibur (mod. Tivoli, near Rome)
The bust shows Hadrian in the early part of his reign, when his beard was still relatively short and his face had a serene and slightly gay* expression. Romans generally shaved off their beards when they reached maturity in their mid-twenties. Hadrian was the first emperor to continue to wear one and so started a fashion that persisted in imperial portraiture until the time of Constantine in the early fourth century. Hadrian's choice to remain bearded was influenced in part by his love of Greek culture, in which beards traditionally signified wisdom and maturity.
*Note: This the MMA's wording, not mine. Presumably it is an old description, and they mean happy.
License:
Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - No Derivatives
bdipaolo
