Head of Emperor Honorius as a Child

late 4th century CE

Roman

On View

Ancient Greek and Roman, Level 2, South Wing

Head of Emperor Honorius as a Child: 1 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

This late Roman head is of an emperor designate perhaps ten years old and is part of a group of portraits of the emperor Theodosius I and his sons. The boy, with down-cast eyes and a rather closed facial expression, wears a jeweled diadem and would probably have had a metal rayed crown with a central gemstone set behind the diadem. The portrait was completed just before the monolithic Roman Empire was divided between Honorius and his brother.

Title Head of Emperor Honorius as a Child

Artwork Date late 4th 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: 4 × 3 1/4 × 3 3/4 inches (10.2 × 8.3 × 9.5 cm) Including base: 6 1/4 × 3 1/4 × 3 3/4 inches (15.9 × 8.3 × 9.5 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Greco-Roman and Ancient European

Credit Gift of Dr. Wilhelm R. Valentiner

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. 37.157

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

William Valentiner (New York, USA)

1937-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:

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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

Rathbone, Perry T. "Three Roman Portrait Heads," Bulletin of the DIA 17, no. 8 (May 1938): pp. 68–70.

Richardson, Elliot P. Small in Size, Great in Art. 1946, p. 7, (ill.).

Walters Art Gallery, org. Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, April 25-June 22, 1947, p. 23, no. 4, (ill.) pl. 8.

Delbrueck, Richard. "Knabenkopf in Detroit," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaelogischen Instituts, vol. 4. 1951, pp. 7-9, pl. 1-3.

Vermeule, Cornelius C. "Greek and Roman Portraits in North American Collections Open to the Public," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 108, no. 2. 1964, p. 104.

The Art of the Late Antique from American Collections. Exh. cat., Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. Boston, December 18, 1968-February 16, 1969, no. 17, pl. 9.

Romans and Barbarians. Exh. cat., Boston Museum of Fine Art. Boston, December 16, 1976-February 27, 1977, no. 188, p. 151, (ill.).

Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, November 19, 1977-February 12, 1978, cat. no. 21, pp. 27-8 (ill.).

Henshaw, Julia, ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 117 (ill.).

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