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4 avril 2015

A Roman marble portrait head of the Emperor Septimius Severus, circa A.D 194

A Roman marble portrait head of the Emperor Septimius Severus, circa A

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A Roman marble portrait head of the Emperor Septimius Severus, circa A.D 194Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 (€82,000 - 110,000). Photo: Bonhams.

The life-size head depicted with forward facing gaze, the thick curling hair falling in four pronounced curls over the brow, the characteristic long parted beard with drilling to the corkscrew locks, with a thick moustache, set on a strong well-defined neck, 35cm high

ProvenanceSpanish private collection, Mr J.Y., Barcelona, acquired in 1977 from Gallery Juan Baldrich, Barcelona. Accompanied by a copy of the receipt along with a letter of expertise from Dr D. Ricardo Batista Noguera, date 1977.

NotesBorn in Leptis Magna, North Africa, Septimius Severus was proclaimed Emperor in A.D. 193 at the age of 48 or 49 and reigned until A.D. 211. He never forgot his North African origins and according to ancient sources retained a slight North African accent, while physically appearing short and sturdy with white curly hair and a long beard. For a discussion of the four types of Severus portraits, cf. D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Yale, 1992, p. 319-321. 

All four types were influenced by the Antonine portrait tradition, with Severus being modelled on portraits of Marcus Aurelius, in whose reign he rose to prominence. As also evident in contemporary coinage, the four main types of portraiture comprise, the Accession; Adoption; Serapis type and Decennial type.

The present portrait belongs to the most popular Serapis type, of which more than seventy examples have been identified. Around A.D. 200 Severus visited North Africa, and the Serapis type is believed to have been produced contemporaneously. It is characterised by stylised features, a long divided beard and three or four corkscrew locks on the forehead. These features are thought to mirror the cult statue of Serapis in the temple at Alexandria by the Greek sculptor, Bryaxis. For a Serapis type with the same treatment of the hair and beard cf. D. Kleiner op. cit. p.321 fig. 283. For another portrait head of Severus with unarticulated eyes, see A.M. McCann, 'The Portraits of Septimius (AD 193-211)', Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, 1968, cat.25 a-b, pl.XXXIX, p.142.

BONHAM'S. ANTIQUITIES, 16 Apr 2015 10:30 BST - LONDON, NEW BOND STREET

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