The Eight Faces of Hadrian in Tivoli FOLLOWING HADRIAN

Earlier this yr, the Mouseia of Villa Adriana hosted an exhibition devoted to the portraits of Emperor Hadrian. Titled “Io Sono Una Forza Del Passato: Adriano, i ritratti” (“I Am a Drive of the Previous: Hadrian’s Portraits”), this exhibition offered, for the primary time, all types of Hadrian’s portrayal. It featured 9 portraits of Hadrian and two of Sabina, made attainable by important loans from the Capitoline Museums and the Nationwide Archaeological Museum of Naples.

The Hadrian exhibition marked the second chapter of a journey that started with the “Antinoo Disparu: Memorie di un Desiderio” exhibition devoted to Antinous. Collectively, these reveals served as a twin tribute to 2 nice mental figures, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Marcel Proust, as 2022 marked the centenary of Pasolini’s delivery and the centenary of Proust’s dying. Each writers share a reference to Marguerite Yourcenar of their exploration of reminiscence and the historic significance of ruins.

The scientific mission was conceived and curated by Andrea Bruciati, the director of VillÆ. He summarizes the idea of the exhibition by stating, “In a recreation of mirrors, the emperor’s portrait, as a ‘pressure of the Previous,’ permits us to critically study and replace the position of the plastic illustration of energy.”

I’m a pressure of the Previous.
My love lies solely in custom.
I come from the ruins, the church buildings,
the altarpieces, the villages
deserted within the Appennines or foothills
of the Alps the place my brothers as soon as lived.
I wander like a madman down the Tuscolana,
down the Appia like a canine with no grasp.

From The Chosen Poetry of Pier Paolo Pasolini, edited and translated by Stephen Sartarelli. Revealed by College Of Chicago Press. Translation copyright © 2014 by Stephen Sartarelli.

Hadrian was notably involved about his picture. Throughout his reign, he commissioned as many as eight official portraits of himself, greater than Augustus, who had solely 5, and considerably greater than his successor, Antoninus Pius, who authorised solely two effigies regardless of ruling longer than Hadrian. So far, roughly 160 sculpted portraits of Hadrian have been found, unfold over the time and areas of his reign. The one emperor with extra surviving portraits is Augustus, with round 211, created throughout a reign that lasted greater than twice so long as Hadrian’s. Latest estimates counsel that the whole variety of statue bases for Hadrian is 418 (Højte, 2005). Following latest discoveries, extra bases needs to be included on this rely, equivalent to a statue base (or altar?) from Blaundos (see here).

Official portraits of Roman emperors and members of the imperial household are sometimes not distinctive creations. As an alternative, they’re categorised into teams which might be thought to exhibit comparable traits related to the person’s iconography, equivalent to age, coiffure, and facial options. These teams, generally known as portrait “varieties,” are derived from copies of a typical mannequin. The prototypes (“Urbild”) originated in Rome and have been circulated all through the empire, making certain an official and standardised picture of the emperor in each main city centre. They’re typically believed to have been created to commemorate important occasions within the emperor’s life, equivalent to profitable a struggle, buying a brand new title, or celebrating a decennalia (tenth anniversary). In consequence, these prototypes might be organized in chronological order.

Max Wegner, a German classical archaeologist, established the typology of Hadrian’s portraiture in 1956. He recognized six distinctive portrait varieties that signify the emperor, every named after the findspot or the situation of the best-preserved instance. Klaus Fittschen later added a seventh kind in 1984. The emperor is at all times depicted with a moustache, a brief beard that covers his cheeks, chin, and jawline, and a wavy coiffure. The principle variations lie within the association of hair locks above the brow and on the temples (generally known as “lock scheme”).

1. 

   Stazione Termini

2. Vaticano Chiaramonti 392
3. Rolllockenfrisur
4. Tarragona (added by Klaus Fittschen in 1984)
5. Panzer-Paludamentumbüste Baiae
6. Imperatori 32
7. Vaticano Busti 283

Nevertheless, students have famous that some representations of Hadrian don’t conform to a single kind however as an alternative mix options from two of the Emperor’s formally authorised photographs. Cécile Evers has addressed this iconographic overlap between the kinds (or “Klitterungen”) in her work on the portraits of Hadrian (Evers, 1994), providing a chronological clarification for these blended photographs. She proposes that they have been “transitional varieties”, indicating that the sculptors have been retaining features of an outdated kind whereas incorporating sure traits from a brand new one.

As well as, provincial imperial portraits generally didn’t carefully resemble the official, canonical photographs of rulers made in Rome. Though the artists within the provinces would have had prepared entry to portraits of the emperor, some portraits differed from the standardised kinds of Hadrian’s official photographs. Paul Zanker’s work on provincial imperial portraiture has proven that some portraits of Hadrian don’t conform to his official prototypes. Nevertheless, like Fittschen and Evers, he finally associates them with a selected portrait kind by calling them a “variant”. Nevertheless, the exhibition solely offered portraits from Italy primarily based on prototypes.

Over the last fifty years, an intense scholarly debate has arisen over whether or not an eighth portrait kind of Hadrian needs to be added, the ‘Delta Omicron’ kind (also referred to as ‘Renatus’). Cécile Evers, for instance, dismisses it fully. This group of portraits deviates dramatically from conventional photographs of Hadrian, exhibiting the Emperor in his late teenagers or early twenties. He’s depicted with a youthful face, a skinny moustache, a beard that covers the road of the jaw and extends over the higher neck, thick hair, and intertwining curls. Top-of-the-line-known examples of this kind is a head excavated in 1954 within the Canopus at Hadrian’s Villa close to Tivoli, now on view within the Villa Adriana. Different notable items embody a head within the Museo del Prado in Madrid (see here) and a bust within the Museum of Artwork and Archaeology on the College of Missouri, Columbia (see here).

Linked to this portrait kind is a sequence of aurei struck in AD 129–130 and once more 136, bearing a portrait of a younger Hadrian with the identical neckbeard discovered on the Tivoli, Madrid and Columbia portraits. Strack named this juvenile portrait kind in his coin classification ‘Delta Omikron’ (Struck 1933). The query that continues to puzzle students is why portraits of this kind differ so considerably from the standardised official imagery of Hadrian and why such a younger portrait of him was used so late in his life. Just lately, Stephan Schroder has steered that the sort of portrait represents Hadrian as a youthful hero, proposing that Romulus is a probable candidate for this illustration.

The Columbia bust, nevertheless, resembles statues of Diomedes, the legendary hero who stole the Palladium from Troy and ensured a Greek victory. The material on the base of the left aspect of the neck is a part of a chlamys, which covers the left shoulder, just like the one on the Munich Diomedes (see here). The exhibition linked it to the Emperor’s idealised rebirth and initiation into the very best stage of the Eleusinian Mysteries in AD 128. In response to Andreas Pangerl, this portrait kind originated early in Hadrian’s life, nicely earlier than he turned emperor. 

Over 150 historical depictions of Hadrian are at the moment identified and catalogued in accordance with Max Wegner’s classification. Hadrian’s Villa at the moment holds solely two sculptures of the Emperor. One in every of them, initially bigger than life-size however now in fragments, is similar to the Vatican’s Chiaramonti 392 and belong to the primary interval of his reign. The opposite sculpture was present in 1954 within the Canopus-Serapeum advanced and belongs to the Delta Omikron kind.

1. ‘Stazione Termini’

Created in AD 117 (between 11 August and 10 December) and attested by 23 examples, Hadrian is depicted as a younger man in these portraits. On the time of his proclamation, the Emperor was in Syria. For his first official picture, the Senate possible primarily based the mannequin on earlier representations of Hadrian from when he was nonetheless a personal citizen. This might clarify the youthful look present in a few of these portraits. The coiffure consists of ten massive entrance locks with ends directed in the direction of the center of the brow.

2. ‘Vaticano Chiaramonti 392’

Created after Hadrian returned to Rome in July AD 118. It’s attested by 30 examples discovered within the western provinces, together with Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and Africa. The perimeter framing the face additionally consists of ten curls not going through in the direction of the centre of the brow. The beard is extra intricate and has extra curls than the Stazione Termini kind. The colossal head of Hadrian present in 2007 in Sagalassos belongs to this kind (see here).

3. ‘Rollockenfrisur’

Created in AD 119, possible initially of Hadrian’s third consulship, with 31 copies. Hadrian is depicted as a mature man with wrinkles, and 9 voluminous curls body his face, curled anti-clockwise. This sort is straightforward to recognise. The newest copy was found on the archaeological website of Los Torrejones in Spain (see here).

4. ‘Tarragona’

Created between AD 119 and 125, throughout Hadrian’s first journey. There are solely six identified copies, two from Spain, the place Hadrian stayed round AD 122/123. The mature face portrayed has a dozen curls on the brow and three close to the left ear. The eyes are barely incised.

5. ‘Panzer-Paludamentumbüste Baiae’

Doubtless created to commemorate Hadrian’s return to Rome in AD 125. There are 27 present portraits of this kind, with the bulk, 19 in whole, originating from Italy. In these portraits, the top is often turned to the left, with just one exception. The Emperor is depicted carrying a cuirass and a cloak. His face reveals no seen indicators of age, and his brow is adorned with roughly a dozen small locks of hair.

6. ‘Imperatori 32’

This portrait kind was created in AD 128 to commemorate the adoption of the title of Olympios in Athens and Pater Patriae or to have fun his decennalia in AD 127. It was broadly distributed, with over 30 identified copies. The top, barely raised, is turned to the precise, and several other examples have incised eyes and the facet of a mature man. The 2 profiles are figuring out elements within the recognition of this kind. On the left, a double row of curls, and on the precise, a voluminous lock of hair above the ear.

7. ‘Vaticano Busti 283’

This portrait kind appeared in AD 137, commemorating the twentieth anniversary of his reign. Solely eight examples of this portrait kind are identified, as Hadrian handed away a yr later in July 138. In these portraits, the face is turned to the left and framed by a dozen locks of hair. The eyes have hollowed pupils and an incised iris.

8. ‘Delta Omicron’

The sort of portrait depicts a youthful picture of Emperor Hadrian. He’s characterised by thick hair, sideburns, a beard beneath his chin, and a slight trace of a moustache on his higher lip. Though some specialists disagree with this identification, it primarily depends on comparisons with cash dated from AD 128 onward.

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The exhibition additionally offered two fragmented portraits of Sabina from Hadrian’s Villa and hair fragments similar to Antinous’s portraits. The photographs of the Empress, discovered on cash and sculptures, show a novel number of hairstyles. Primarily based on these distinctive hairstyles, round 40 surviving portraits have been categorised into differing types (4 or presumably 5). Sabina is usually depicted carrying an imposing diadem, a low ponytail, or a chignon adorned with a diadem. After her dying, the Empress is portrayed carrying a veil.

Sources & references:

• Wegner, M. (1984). “Verzeichnis der Bildnisse von Hadrian und Sabina.” Boreas: Münstersche Beiträge zur Archäologie.
• Fittschen, Okay. (1984). Eine Büste des Kaisers Hadrian aus Milreu in Portugal. Zum Drawback von Bildnisklitterungen. Madrider Mitteilungen, 25, 197–207.
• Zanker, P. (1983). Provinzielle Kaiser- portreits: Zur Reze’tion der Selbstdar- stellung des Princeps, Munich.
• Evers, C. (1994). Les portraits d’Hadrien. Typologie et ateliers. Académie royale de Belgique, Bruxelles.
• Højte, J.M. (2005). Roman Imperial Statue Bases: from Augustus to Commodus, Aarhus College Press.
• Riccardi, Lee. (2000). Uncanonical Imperial Portraits within the Japanese Roman Provinces: The Case of the Kanellopoulos Emperor. Hesperia.
• Strack, P. L. (1933). Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahr- hunderts, half 2: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Hadrian, Stuttgart.
• Pangerl, A. (2021). Hadrian’s First and Second Imperial Portrait Sorts of 117–118 AD. Jahrbuch Für Numismatik Und Geldgeschichte, 71, 171–184.
• Brennan, T. C. (2018). Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey. Oxford and New York: Oxford College Press.
• Amiro, F. (2021). The Portraits of the Roman Empress Sabina: A Numismatic and Sculptural Research – Dissertation, McMaster College. (link)