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Head of Hadrian
Roman
Imperial Period
about A.D. 130
Medium/Technique
Marble from the Greek island of Thasos
Dimensions
Height (max.) x length of face: 50 cm x 30 cm (19 11/16 x 11 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Frank B. Bemis Fund
Accession Number1975.292
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 356A; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 115 (additional published references).
DescriptionThis over-life-sized head has been worked for insertion into either a full-length statue or a bust format. It depicts the Emperor Hadrian as a mature man. The shape of the head is square with a broad forehead. There are no blemishes or wrinkles on this face, save for two creases between the eyebrows. The eyes are almond-shaped with very thin lids set beneath a sharp browline. The nose is straight and broad, and the lips are thin. There are prominent naso-labial lines framing the moustache. The head has a neat moustache and full but short beard that conforms to the shape of the jawline. There is a full cap of curly hair, with eight broad curls framing the forehead. The locks of hair framing the face have been undercut. The back of the head has only been roughed out, indicating that it was not meant to be viewed from behind.
The carving of the facial hair is very flat and the rendering of the eyes and brows is linear. This gives the face a schematic appearance. The head is in good condition with only some minor pock-marks on the flesh of the face.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI227: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.66 / delta18O -2.64,
MFA laboratory: email from Richard Newman to John Herrmann: "The marble is dolomite (determined by Raman spectroscopy). Some gypsum was also detected (from a fill pr surface alteration?)."
Attribution - Thasos 3 (Cape Vathy), Justification - Medium grained marble, dolomite.
The carving of the facial hair is very flat and the rendering of the eyes and brows is linear. This gives the face a schematic appearance. The head is in good condition with only some minor pock-marks on the flesh of the face.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI227: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.66 / delta18O -2.64,
MFA laboratory: email from Richard Newman to John Herrmann: "The marble is dolomite (determined by Raman spectroscopy). Some gypsum was also detected (from a fill pr surface alteration?)."
Attribution - Thasos 3 (Cape Vathy), Justification - Medium grained marble, dolomite.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: said to have been found at Athribis (Benha) near the head of the Nile Delta; by 1937: from the art market in Cairo; by date unknown: with Michel A. Abemayor; April 7, 1975: purchased by MFA from Michel A. Abemayor