Michel Hochmann identified the painting in the Capodimonte as the ‘Quadretto corniciato di pero tinto con un ritratto di un giovane, in pietra di Genova, di mano del medesimo [Daniele]’ refered to in [+]
Juan de Villanueva (1739-1811) is represented somewhat larger than life-size, dressed in late eighteenth-century style and covered with a cape. This enlightened architect designed the Prado Museum bui [+]
This is the last portrait of Vibia Sabina (83-136 A. D.), wife of the emperor Hadrian. It does not represent her at her real age (some 48 years), but is a highly idealised and rejuvenated image. Her h [+]
The Emperor (1500-1558) is represented with attributes alluding to his power: armor, the necklace of the Golden Fleece and a crossing sash. The armor has a low relief of the Virgin Mary carved on the [+]
The image of Publius Aelius Hadrian (76-138 A. D.) did not change much during his rule (117-138 A. D.). This effigy shows him in his maturity, and can thus be dated between 130 and 138 A.D. Despite a [+]
In 1562 and 1565 Philip II commissioned the Bonanome brothers to execute two series of busts of the “Twelve Emperors” of whom Suetonius wrote biographies. The monarch was not satisfied with the busts [+]
The sitter is depicted with a dense head of curly hair, a carefully trimmed beard, thin moustache, and a goatee beard between his mouth and chin. The young man’s elegant hairstyle imitates portraits o [+]
The refined features of this distinguished young man recall those of the Emperor Nerva (96-98 AD) and his hairstyle reflects that of the previous Emperor, Domitian (81-96 AD). But this head also has s [+]
This is a modern copy of a Roman portrait of a young man from the period of the Emperor Commodus (180-192 AD). While the beard recalls portraits of Hadrian (such as E-176 in the Prado) and others from [+]
The present head, to which the bust was added in the eighteenth century, probably belonged to one of the statues of captured Dacians (from Dacia, the region to the West of the Black Sea) in Trajan’s F [+]
Numerous portraits of Constantine of this type were produced to mark his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A. D. Coins of the period depict him as invictus (unconquerab [+]
Portraits of Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the earliest works of Western literature (8th century B.C.), were made only many years after his death, when any reliable memories of his appea [+]
This portrait of Hadrian (117-138 AD) does not follow a specific classical model, freely interpreting elements such as the curls of his hair and his expression. It may have belonged to Queen Christina [+]
Gaius Caesar (20 B. C.- 4 A. D.) was adopted, together with his brother Lucius Caesar, in the year 16 B.C. by his grandfather the emperor Augustus, with a view to possibly having him succeed him. This [+]
The portrait is of a mature, high-class lady with a serene and somewhat tired expression. Like many portraits of its era, it imitates the hairstyles adopted in the imperial household, in this case of [+]
This Roman herm, which was probably made to decorate a theatre, uses an image of Dionysus in the form of a mask, created between 425 and 400 B. C. in Athens. At that time, it was usual to hang these m [+]
Double hermae of gods, similar to the image of the two-headed Janus, were created from the first century B. C. onwards for Roman collectors. Here, Aphrodite and her son Eros, the goddess and god of lo [+]
In 136 A.D., two years before his death, Emperor Hadrian had the previous realism of his portraits replaced with an idealized image of him as a young hero. Gold coins with this portrait, minted during [+]