Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art
Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art
Property from a Swiss Private Collection
A Roman Marble Portrait Bust of a Man, Reign of Caracalla, circa 215 A.D.
Auction Closed
December 3, 04:39 PM GMT
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
carved from a single block of marble above the modern socle, the head turned to his right, his eyes with incised irises and drilled crescentic pupils, incised eyebrows, short curly hair, short incised beard, and wearing a chlamys falling from the left shoulder.
Height without socle 53 cm.
said to have been found in the area of Laino Borgo and Tortora, Italy
Cappelli family, Morano Calabro, Italy, by 1927
Ars Antiqua AG, Lucerne, Auktion 2, Antike Kunstwerke, May 14th, 1960, no. 62, illus.
Roman art market, 1970s
private collection, Switzerland
by descent from the above to the present owner
Published
Edoardo Galli, "Prime voci dell’antica Laos," Atti e Memorie della Società Magna Grecia, 1929, p. 155, fig. 2
Rivista di archeologia, vol. 1, 1977, back cover advertisement
Klaus Fittschen et al., Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen, vol. 2, Berlin, 2010, pp. 114, note 11, and 143, note 4, Beilage 19
The rendering of the hair on the back is very similar to that of emperor Caracalla’s portraits (e.g. an example in Berlin: arachne.dainst.org/entity/1062550). Related private portraits can be found at Newby Hall (arachne.dainst.org/entity/1082943) and Castle Howard (arachne.dainst.org/entity/1064010).