Roman Portrait Sculpture


	Roman Portrait Sculpture

Another unique contribution of Roman art is the development of portrait sculpture. The Romans probably originally made wax death masks. This tradition then led to the development of realistic portraiture. At first artists only sculpted heads; later busts or the whole body were represented in stone.

Julius Caesar
marble, n.d.
Augustus
marble, beginning of 1st century CE
Perhaps the most significant Roman emperor, here Augustus is posed as a Greek but still acts as a Roman, addressing his troops.

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius
bronze, 190 CE
Although numerous equestrian statues were executed, this is the most impressive surviving example. Few did survive because if they were made in bronze, they were often melted down for other uses. This sculpture only survived throughout the Middle Ages because it was mistakenly thought to be a statue of Constantine. Now it has a place of honor on the Campidoglio, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome. Here Marcus Aurelius addresses his troops in the actual battle dress of a military leader -- but his face also shows the philosopher that he was. This is one of the most influential of all Roman works and is the precedent for all those generals on horseback in every park in the western world. (Of course, not all those generals in parks look like Stoic philosophers, nor deserve such portrayal!)

All images marked ^MAS were photographed on location by Mary Ann Sullivan. All other images were scanned from other sources or downloaded from the World Wide Web; they are posted on this password-protected site for educational purposes, at Bluffton College only, under the "fair use" clause of U.S. copyright law.

Page maintained by Gerald W. Schlabach, gws@bluffton.edu. Last updated: 30 April 1998.

	Julius Caesar marble, n.d.		Augustus marble, beginning of 1st century CE Perhaps the most significant Roman emperor, here Augustus is posed as a Greek but still acts as a Roman, addressing his troops.
	Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius bronze, 190 CE Although numerous equestrian statues were executed, this is the most impressive surviving example. Few did survive because if they were made in bronze, they were often melted down for other uses. This sculpture only survived throughout the Middle Ages because it was mistakenly thought to be a statue of Constantine. Now it has a place of honor on the Campidoglio, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome. Here Marcus Aurelius addresses his troops in the actual battle dress of a military leader -- but his face also shows the philosopher that he was. This is one of the most influential of all Roman works and is the precedent for all those generals on horseback in every park in the western world. (Of course, not all those generals in parks look like Stoic philosophers, nor deserve such portrayal!)