Portrait of the Ancient Roman General Scipio by Mino da Fiesole in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, January 2012

Portrait of the Ancient Roman General Scipio

Mino da Fiesole, Italian (active Florence and Rome), 1429 - 1484

Geography: Made in Italy, Europe

Date: c. 1460-1465

Medium: Marble

Dimensions: 13 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches (34.9 x 29.8 x 9.5 cm)

Curatorial Department: European Decorative Arts and Sculpture

Object Location: Gallery 209, European Art 1100-1500, second floor

Accession Number: 1930-1-77

Credit Line: Purchased with the Joseph E. Temple Fund from the Edmond Foulc Collection, 1930

Label: Profile portraits of figures from antiquity—often based on ancient coins bearing images of Roman emperors—emerged as a popular sculptural genre in late fifteenth-century Italy. Florentine sculptors in particular made very sophisticated classicizing portrait reliefs, sometimes producing entire series for wealthy patrons. These reliefs were usually displayed as part of a collection housed in a scholar’s study. This example is an imaginary portrayal of Scipio Africanus, a general of the Roman Republic who fought in the Punic Wars between ancient Rome and the North African city of Carthage.


Text from: www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/44084.html