Advanced Search 
View: Front
Augustus
Roman
Imperial Period
Early 1st century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Marble, fine-grained Italian
Dimensions
Height x length (of face): 31 x 20 cm (12 3/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Edward Waldo Forbes
Accession Number06.1873
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
People living in Rome, as well as in cities and towns throughout the empire, constantly encountered images of their emperors. A likeness of the reigning ruler was a fixture in virtually every public space-from places of assembly and business to baths, theaters, and temples. The succession of a new emperor to the throne might require thousands of portraits to be made quickly. The need to mass-produce imperial images gave rise to the creation of officially sanctioned "portrait types" with distinctive hairstyles and facial features, which were disseminated to serve as models for sculptors to generate additional replicas.
A marble head of Augustus, Rome's first emperor (reigned 27 B.C.-A.D. 14), wears a hairstyle with a row of comma-shaped locks all brushed to one side over the forehead; this coiffure is the primary characteristic of the "Forbes type," named after the donor of the piece. Probably set upon a life-size statue in a public place, this portrait of Augustus, ever youthful and imbued with a calm intensity, would have impressed all who came into its orbit with a sense of the emperor's commanding presence and authority.
Imperial portraits were also made on a more intimate scale, sometimes from precious or exotic materials, for private display and devotion. Although fragmentary, a unique cameo, carved of turquoise, is widely thought to portray Livia, the wife of Augustus-named priestess of her deified husband after his death-gazing down at a small bust-length sculpted portrait of him. In much the same way, the owner of this precious gem, whose intricate workmanship and lavish material suggest it might have been made for a member of the imperial court, must have looked with highest regard on the figures of the divine emperor and the first lady of Rome.
A marble head of Augustus, Rome's first emperor (reigned 27 B.C.-A.D. 14), wears a hairstyle with a row of comma-shaped locks all brushed to one side over the forehead; this coiffure is the primary characteristic of the "Forbes type," named after the donor of the piece. Probably set upon a life-size statue in a public place, this portrait of Augustus, ever youthful and imbued with a calm intensity, would have impressed all who came into its orbit with a sense of the emperor's commanding presence and authority.
Imperial portraits were also made on a more intimate scale, sometimes from precious or exotic materials, for private display and devotion. Although fragmentary, a unique cameo, carved of turquoise, is widely thought to portray Livia, the wife of Augustus-named priestess of her deified husband after his death-gazing down at a small bust-length sculpted portrait of him. In much the same way, the owner of this precious gem, whose intricate workmanship and lavish material suggest it might have been made for a member of the imperial court, must have looked with highest regard on the figures of the divine emperor and the first lady of Rome.
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 327; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 114 (additional published references); Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 174.
DescriptionThis portrait of Rome's first emperor (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) belongs to a group sometimes known as the Forbes type. This type is more classicizing than earlier portraits of Augustus, perhaps because he wished to present himself as a bringer of stability and calm after a period of civil war. The MFA's version of the type was probably inserted into a statue of Augustus wearing a toga and has been dated to the early first century A.D. on the basis of the looser treatment of the locks of hair and the lack of individualized strands of hair.
A large part of the left side of the crown of the head has been lost by an oblique fracture; there is a break at the base of the neck. The end of the nose is missing; both ears have been injured; and there is some incrustation on the surfaces of the face.
A large part of the left side of the crown of the head has been lost by an oblique fracture; there is a break at the base of the neck. The end of the nose is missing; both ears have been injured; and there is some incrustation on the surfaces of the face.
ProvenancePurchased in Rome by Edward Waldo Forbes (b. 1873 - d. 1969), Cambridge, MA; 1906, gift of Edward Waldo Forbes to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 1, 1906)