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Caracalla and Geta, sons of the Emperor Septimus Severus, were elected consuls in 205 AD and over the following years were depicted as twins. Their very short hairstyle, which reflected military fashion, was subsequently adopted by almost all the emperors of the period of Military Anarchy (3rd century AD). Caracalla murdered his brother in 211 AD and only outlived him for a few years.205-209 AD (h
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 Antonine period (E-113), the hairstyle suggests images of Alexander the Great. The subject may have been an officer in the Roman army.
Following the conquest of Dacia (essentially modern-day Romania and Moldova) by Trajan (AD 53-117), the image of its inhabitants, shown as captives wearing their distinctive clothing, was introduced into public sculpture to symbolise the triumph of Rome. Works of this type, possibly including the present example, were installed in the forum built on the emperor’s orders.
Probablemente en el siglo XVII, un autor desconocido dividió mediante un corte longitudinal el torso de la estatua de un jabalí de tamaño natural en dos partes; luego, las completó y montó cada una de las dos mitades sobre un tablero liso de mármol de color. Aún hoy se percibe fácilmente que la cabeza del animal estaba levemente girada hacia la derecha. Originalmente el pesado cuerpo no descansaba
In classical Antiquity the subjects of sculptures were identified by their attributes or gestures. In this case the figure’s pensive pose suggests that of one of the Muses, Polyhymnia or Clío, depicted in sarcophagus scenes as listening attentively to the god Apollo’s music. Based on late Hellenistic models, this figure was made in the Flavian period, possibly to decorate a library.
A brilliant orator and politician, Cicero (106-43 BC) became the literary reference for the values of Roman culture. This bust retains the original inscription with his name and age at his death in Roman numerals. The head is later and reproduces a well known model that was in the Mattei collection in Rome (now in London).
Originally in the collection of the 7th Marquis del Carpio, Spanish Ambassador in Rome (1676-82) and Viceroy of Naples (1682-87), this sculpture consists of a nude, Greco-Roman torso with some surviving folds of drapery, completed in the Baroque style by a Roman sculptor in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. It depicts Venus’s birth as she rises from the waves, supported by a dolphin and
This youth, with his distinctive features, has a hairstyle introduced under Nero (54-68 AD). The Emperor’s undulating locks scandalised the upper classes in Rome at the time but were highly appreciated by the jeunesse dorée. One of a series of the Twelve Emperors given by Pius V to Philip II in 1568, it is likely that at that time this portrait was considered to depict Nero.
The body is a Roman copy of a Hellenic original from around 270 B.C.E. which may represent a philosopher of the Epicurean school. The head is a Baroque copy of the type known as pseudo-Seneca. It is mentioned for the first time in the collection of Christine of Sweden, where it already appears as a restored effigy of Seneca, and it does not seem to have been altered in any noticeable manner since
The eagle and weapons are part of a funerary monument from the period of Emperor Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.). This sculpture was found with many other works in the country villa of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64 B.C.-13 A.D.), a well-known general and colleague in arms of Emperor Augustus. It probably adorned the upper part of a rectangular marble pedestal containing the urn with the general
The sitter is a young man with a robust face, a thick, clipped beard and curly hair typical of the Trajanic period. He wears a lunula: an amulet in the form of a crescent moon that protected him against spells cast on his weapons and against the evil eye. One of a series of the Twelve Emperors given by Pius V to Philip II in 1568, it is likely that at that time this portrait was considered to depi
For many years considered a Roman work from the Hadrianic period, this marble is now known to be Italian and close in style to the work of Tullio Lombardo. It is notably similar to his figure of Adam executed for the funerary monument of the Vendramin family (1490-94), now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
The central part of a late Hellenistic marble krater. The receptacle has high reliefs which show the mythical fight of the lapiths against the centaurs, understood in the fifth century B. C. as a symbol of the fight between Greek civilisation and Persian savagery. The figures reproduce the design which the famous painter Parrhasius made circa 420 B. C. to adorn the shield of Phidias’s Athena Proma
This is rare type of tabletop that combines Roman Mannerist elements such as the border with pre-Baroque ones such as the exuberant floral and foliate motif that fills the centre. This motif replaces the central alabaster oval to be found in other compositions.
This tabletop has a geometrical decoration with a large central oval framed by two volutes. The border combines ovals and diamonds with floral motifs. A similar type of decoration is to be found on the walls of a number of seventeeth-century Roman chapels.
This table top, which was in the Alcázar of Madrid by 1636, is a typical product of Roman hardstone workshops, which reused marble and alabaster from classical ruins. The top has a large central oval and an outer border of geometrical motifs with white outlines. The inner black background with scroll work and flowers suggests the influence of the Florentine Opificio delle Pietre Dure.
This tabletop was sent from Rome by Cardinal Alessandrino, nephew of Pope Pius V, to Philip II of Spain in 1587. Of unusual proportions, it is designed to create the impression that the inlay is made of precious stones. The bronze mounts date from the reign of Isabel II. Like the Table of don Rodrigo Calderon (O00448), this tabletop rests on four of the twelve lions that Velazquez commissioned fro
This tabletop belonged to Rodrigo Calderon, secretary to Philip III, who seems to have acquired it by somewhat unethical means. Its decoration of military motifs suggests that it is related to the victory at Lepanto. After Calderon´s death in 1621 it was acquired by Philip IV at the posthumous sale of his possessions. The table is supported by four bronze lions, three of them commissioned by Velaz
