Head of Emperor Augustus

1st century CE

Roman

On View

Ancient Greek and Roman, Level 2, South Wing

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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About the Artwork

This portrait of Rome's first emperor is an idealized, youthful image, which harks back to the representation of athletes and heroes of fifth-century BCE Greece. It follows the portrait well known from a marble statue of Augustus, discovered in the villa of Augustus's wife Livia outside of Rome. That handsome likeness was the source of Inspiration for hundreds of portraits of the emperor all over the expanding Roman Empire. The statue may have served as the cult figure in a temple to the deified emperor, or stood in a public or private place of honor.

Title Head of Emperor Augustus

Artwork Date 1st century CE

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Roman

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Marble

Dimensions Overall: 28 1/4 × 11 5/8 × 12 5/8 inches (71.8 × 29.5 × 32.1 cm) Overall (head): 19 1/8 × 11 5/8 × 11 1/16 inches (48.6 × 29.5 × 28.1 cm) Mount (base): 9 × 10 3/8 inches (22.9 × 26.4 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Greco-Roman and Ancient European

Credit Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James S. Holden

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 24.101

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

(Joseph Brummer)

Mr. and Mrs. James S. Holden (Michigan, USA)

1924-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

P[oland], R[eginald]. "Classical Busts Acquired," Bulletin of the DIA 6, no. 6 (March 1925): 62–64, p. 63 (ill.).

Robinson, David M. "Two New Heads of Augustus," American Journal of Archaeology 30, no. 2 (April–June 1926): 125–136, pp. 127–129 (ill.).

H[eil], W[alter]. "Four Roman Portrait Heads," Bulletin of the DIA 9, no. 3 (December 1927): 28–30, pp. 28–29 (ill.).

Montini, Italo. Il Ritratto di Augusto. Rome, 1938, pp. 59, 88.

Vermeule, Cornelius C. "Greek and Roman Portraits in North American Collections Open to the Public: A Survey of Important Monumental Likenesses in Marble and Bronze which have not been published extensively," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 108, no. 2 (April 1964): 99–134, pp. 104.

Treasures from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1966, p. 40 (ill.).

Kiss, Zsolt. L'iconographie des princes Julio-Claudiens au temps d'Auguste et de Tibère. Warsaw, 1975, pp. 53, 181, pl. 604–605 (ill.).

Vermeule, Cornelius. Greek and Roman Sculpture in America. Berkeley, 1981, p. 281, no 238.

Pollini, John. The Portraiture of Gaius and Lucius Caesar. New York, 1987, p. xii, 16, 58, 100, 109, 121, pl. 19 (ill.).

Henshaw, Julia, ed. A Visitor's Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 116 (ill.).

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