![]() ![]() Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern. "Portraits of Julius Caesar: a proposal for 3D analysis". ^ a b Amelia Carolina Sparavigna (2012).Julius Caesar and the Transformation of the Roman Republic. Arles bust, possible third lifelike Caesar portrait.There are three known copies of the Tusculum portrait, which reside in Woburn Abbey and in private collections in Florence and Rome. The portrait was exhibited in the Louvre alongside the Arles bust. The Tusculum portrait was excavated by Lucien Bonaparte at the forum in Tusculum in 1825 and was later brought to Castello d'Aglie, though it was not recognised as a bust of Caesar until Maurizio Borda identified it in 1940. These realistic features place the bust in the tradition of verism, as opposed to other surviving portraits which have been identified as Caesar. The portrait's hair is present but thinning. According to Jiří Frel, this feature characterizes Caesar as a general rather than a ruler, unlike later busts. Like the Arles bust (which is also alleged to be a depiction of Caesar), the portrait includes a wrinkled neck, which could have been caused by years of campaigning in extreme weather conditions this feature has been omitted from other posthumous busts, but can be seen on at least one coin issued during Caesar's lifetime. The portrait also exhibits dolichocephaly, another type of cranial deformity which Caesar "may, or may not, have suffered" from, according to Mary Beard. The bust's head is prolonged, forming a saddle shape which could have been the result of a premature ossification of the sutures between the parietal bone and the temporal bone in Caesar's skull. The portrait's facial features are consistent with those found on coins struck shortly before Caesar's assassination, particularly on the denarii issued by Marcus Mettius. Made of fine-grained marble, the bust measures 33 cm (1ft 1in) in height. Being one of the copies of the bronze original, the bust has been dated to 50–40 BC and is housed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Antiquities in Turin, Italy. It is also one of the two accepted portraits of Caesar (alongside the Chiaramonti Caesar) which were made before the beginning of the Roman Empire. ![]() The Tusculum portrait, also called the Tusculum bust, is the only extant portrait of Julius Caesar which may have been made during his lifetime. Message: he is a god.Roman bust, only extant portrait of Julius Caesar made during his lifetime The Tusculum portrait The implication here is that divine blood runs through the veins of Augustus. The Julians (Augustus's family) claimed some divine hanky panky in their lineage (the names Venus and Neptune come up most frequently) and the child could represent Venus's son while the dolphin, a creature of the sea, could be seen as a representation of Neptune, god of the seas. The baby riding a dolphin (the dolphin is hard to recognize at this angle) can be interpreted a couple of ways. The robe wrapped around his waist would have been originally painted purple, the color reserved for emperors (most ancient statues were painted to some degree). He is carrying a staff, the age-old symbol of authority and power (holy Freud!). Even though Augustus did not actively participate in the negotiations for the return of the standard he of course took all the credit for what he considered a diplomatic coup. Along the same lines, such statues never show the emperor as an old or infirm individual- the emperor is a god and, as such, immortal and ageless.Ī relief scene on his armor depicts the return of captured Roman standards by an enemy soldier. In the Greek tradition, he is rather stylized and made to appear very much like the accepted images of Apollo-after all Augustus was deified and therefore on the same level as his brother god. The face is a reasonably accurate likeness of Augustus as a young man. Other messages emerge from looking more closely specific parts of the statue. Second, he is wearing the uniform of a Roman general. First, the general pose depicts Augustus as an authority figure in the act of giving a rousing speech. Two points are quickly evident from looking at the statue as a whole. ![]() This symbolism is clearly evident when we look at the statue from head to toe to see what each component says abut the emperor. This statue thus shows the official Augustus with an entire catalogue of the symbolism that confirms his divine authority and talents. Augustus recognized that the vast majority of his subjects would never see him in life but could view him in the carefully controlled context of officially sanctioned, produced, and distributed statuary. This statue is but one of many that were erected throughout the Empire during his reign. Augustus, adopted son and heir to Julius Caesar, was a master of propaganda. ![]()
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