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Porträt eines kahlköpfigen Mannes

1. Hälfte 6. Jh. n. Chr.

This impressive, larger-than-live-sized portrait of an elderly balding man with a thick horseshoe-shaped fringe of hair presumably comes from a late-antique honorary statue or bust, which was probably originally displayed in the theatre at Ephesus. The aim of the artist was not a realistic rendering of the sitter’s features but to depict certain characteristics that denote the sitter’s high rank. We find comparable images on the mosaics decorating the choir of San Vitale in Ravenna/Italy (before AD 547) that show Emperor Justinian, his court and Bishop Maximian.

This impressive, larger-than-live-sized portrait of an elderly balding man with a thick horseshoe-shaped fringe of hair presumably comes from a late-antique honorary statue or bust, which was probably originally displayed in the theatre at Ephesus. The aim of the artist was not a realistic rendering of the sitter’s features but to depict certain characteristics that denote the sitter’s high rank. We find comparable images on the mosaics decorating the choir of San Vitale in Ravenna/Italy (before AD 547) that show Emperor Justinian, his court and Bishop Maximian.

Time:
1. Hälfte 6. Jh. n. Chr.

Object Name
Porträtkopf

Culture
Römisch

Location of discovery:
Ephesos Celsusbibliothek Umgebung (Selçuk, Kleinasien, Türkei)

Material/technology:
Marmor (Prokonnesos)

Dimensions:
44,5 cm × 28,5 cm × 28,5 cm

Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung

Invs.
Antikensammlung, I 850

Provenance
Sultan, Abdul, Hamid, II.; Österreichische Ausgrabungen in Ephesos; Geschenk an Kaiser Franz Joseph; 1911 nachträglich inventarisiert

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