Septimius Severus in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, October 2009

Septimius Severus
Roman, Imperial Period, A.D. 203–235

Dimensions: Height: 38.5 cm (15 3/16 in.)

Medium or Technique: Marble, probably from Carrara in northwest Italy

Classification: Sculpture

Catalogue Raisonné: Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 369; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 115 (additional published references).

Accession Number: 60.928

This portrait of the Emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211) was fashioned either in the last decade of the emperor's rule or posthumously. The four corkscrew locks hanging over the forehead and the parted beard are an imitation of a famous cult statue of the Graeco-Egyptian god Sarapis in his temple in Alexandria. Both Septimius Severus and his older son Emperor Caracalla worshipped Sarapis, a god of death and renewal popular in their native North Africa.

The drill has been used freely ...in the locks and curls, typical of third century A.D. carving style. The neck was worked for insertion in a draped statue or bust. The nose has been mostly knocked off; the hair and beard have suffered some damages; and the surfaces are somewhat corroded, abraded, and otherwise deteriorated. The neck and face once had a high polish, traces of which are still visible.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/septimius-severus-151363