A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF A MAN - TRAJANIC, CIRCA 98-117 A.D.

Perhaps the Emperor Trajan, over-lifesized, depicted as a mature man of middle age, with realistic features including heavy jowls, dimpled chin, naso-labial folds, thin over-hanging upper lip and undulating lower lip, the thin brows arching over the unarticulated almond-shaped eyes, with prominent lower lids, his hair brushed forward, with most of the locks breaking to his right high on his forehead, represented capite velato with a veil pulled up over the back of his head, with antique restorations. 22½ in. (57 cm.) high including the socle - Estimate: $120,000 - $180,000

Provenance: with Archeological Shop, Tel Aviv, 1979.
French Private Collection.

Lot Notes: The antique restorations on this portrait head, including the nose, skew the visage of the original intended subject. The naso-labial folds, wide forehead, thin sharp brows, and especially the flat lips with deep philtrum bear great resemblance to the Emperor Trajan. Portraits of the emperor vary widely, no doubt due to the length of his reign, the extent of his empire and his foreign birth. The similarities to the idealizing portraits of the Julio-Claudians were by Trajan's design. As Kleiner explains (p. 208 in Roman Sculpture), "Trajan's goal was to disassociate himself from the Flavians, especially Domitian, and to play up his connection to Augustus. This is not surprising since Trajan, like Augustus before him, chose to expand the empire, and both emperors enacted major social legislation."

Christie's. ANTIQUITIES.  4 June 2008