Roman Portrait of a Bearded Man in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, January 2018

Bust of a bearded man
Roman
Imperial Period, Antonine
about A.D. 160–170

Medium/Technique Marble

Dimensions Overall: 85.5 cm, 239.5 kg, 27.9 × 53.3 cm (33 11/16 in., 528 lb., 11 × 21 in.)
Case (Wooden pedestal opening at the back for securement): 87 × 80 × 80.3 cm (34 1/4 × 31 1/2 × 31 5/8 in.)

Credit Line: Henry Lillie Pierce Fund

Accession Number: 01.8193

Collections: Ancient Greece and Rome

Classifications: Sculpture

Catalogue Raisonné: Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 362; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 115 (additional published references).

Description: Portrait bust of a bearded man. His head is turned sharply to the left. The man’s long face is accentuated by his long, curly beard. Beneath the chin, the beard is divided into two sections. The hair of the beard along the jawline is rendered in thick clumps. The mustache lays flat, covering the upper lip. The man has a full head of head, which consists of long locks that fall in loose comma-shaped locks around his face. His fringe is parted in the middle, directly over his nose. He has closely spaced eyes that are almond-shaped with thick lids. The drill was used to incise the pupils of the eyes, which are located in the upper portion of the eye near the upper lid. The ridge of his brows is prominent and the individual hairs of his eyebrows are lightly incised. The nose appears aquiline, although the tip has been damaged significantly. He has a full bottom lip. Beneath his eyes are prominent bags and his cheeks appear slightly sunken. The length of the bust extends down to below his pectorals and it includes his shoulders and the upper portion of his arms. He is depicted in a tunica with a paludamentum (military cloak) fastened over his right shoulder with a circular fibula.

The base and tabula are original and carved from the same block of stone as the bust. There is chipping along the folds of the drapery and the tip of the nose is damaged, as is a small piece from the left side of the neck.

Provenance: By 1901: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in Paris: said to be from Spain.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, December 1901


Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/108/bust-of-a-bearded-man