DescriptionPosthumous portrait of Hadrian, bronze, from Egypt, ca. 140 AD, Louvre Museum (21257777498).jpg
This head is exceptional in both the material used (many Greco-Roman bronzes were melted down and lost forever) and in the type of representation. Portraits of the emperor are generally classified by type, but this effigy does not correspond to any of those defined for Hadrian.
The face, longer than usual, the eyes, wider than was customary, and the hooked, crooked nose were rare, if not novel features among the surviving images of the prince. This was long thought to indicate that it was a posthumous portrait. An idealization of the features of the deified sovereign was combined with an intentional physical resemblance to Hadrian's successor, Antonius Pius (AD 138-161), to underscore the continuity of power. A more recent study questions this theory and prefers to see this Louvre head as a variant of the type developed in the first years of Hadrian's reign, in the period AD 118-121. This new hypothesis illustrates the difficulty of establishing an exhaustive and reliable classificaton of Roman imperial portraits.
« This head is all that remains of a colossal statue of about 2.60 meters. The body would have been idealised, and the Emperor would be shown as a breastplated war chief. Long thought to be a posthumous portrait, this head may be dated to the first years of Hadrian’s reign, from AD 118-121. » Reference : [1] : Exhibition: Three bronze portraits of Hadrian at the Louvre, Paris. (followinghadrian.com , August 8, 2018)
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