Aphrodisias’ Sebasteion – XXIII
Two Julio-Claudian princes.
Two young naked princes (the two figures will be called A and B, from the viewer's left and right) stand frontally in mirrored classical poses. Prince A holds an “aphlaston” (ship's stern ornament) and an orb: he is clearly the senior in status. Prince B did not certainly hold any attribute. Both wear long cloaks with large round brooches. Their stances are slightly different: A is more frontal, and B turns more towards the centre and has his feet closer together. Both turn their heads and look down, seemingly at the orb held by A. The ideal classical forms and proportions of both figures are well managed. A's roughly worked feet were not to be seen.
The two princes are differentiated both by attributes and their portraits, but the heads are not certainly identifiable by portrait type. A's head is slightly larger and better finished, with more detail shown in the hair. Both have youthful, classically structured faces with almost no individualizing traits. Both have regular, ideal profiles, heavily lidded eyes, and full mouths with drilled corners. In technique and generalizing effect, they are close to the head of the unidentifiable imperator represented in the pannel photo N. XIV.
The slight portrait effect of the heads is expressed in their thick caps of hair with Julio-Claudian fringes: A has an off-centre parting over the left eye with an 'extra' lock above; B has a simple side-parting over the right eye. It is possible that these were copied or adapted from defined imperial types, but given the near-total lack of particularity in the faces, it cannot be assumed for the hair. In other words, it is not possible to tell whether we have a pair of generic, invented Julio-Claudian portraits, or simplified versions of defined but idealized types.
Source: Smith R.R.R., “The Imperial Reliefs from the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias”, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 77 (1987).
Roman bas-relief
Claudius – early Nero age (41 – 58 AD)
Aphrodisias, Archaeological Museum
Aphrodisias, Caria, Turkey
Aphrodisias’ Sebasteion – XXIII
Two Julio-Claudian princes.
Two young naked princes (the two figures will be called A and B, from the viewer's left and right) stand frontally in mirrored classical poses. Prince A holds an “aphlaston” (ship's stern ornament) and an orb: he is clearly the senior in status. Prince B did not certainly hold any attribute. Both wear long cloaks with large round brooches. Their stances are slightly different: A is more frontal, and B turns more towards the centre and has his feet closer together. Both turn their heads and look down, seemingly at the orb held by A. The ideal classical forms and proportions of both figures are well managed. A's roughly worked feet were not to be seen.
The two princes are differentiated both by attributes and their portraits, but the heads are not certainly identifiable by portrait type. A's head is slightly larger and better finished, with more detail shown in the hair. Both have youthful, classically structured faces with almost no individualizing traits. Both have regular, ideal profiles, heavily lidded eyes, and full mouths with drilled corners. In technique and generalizing effect, they are close to the head of the unidentifiable imperator represented in the pannel photo N. XIV.
The slight portrait effect of the heads is expressed in their thick caps of hair with Julio-Claudian fringes: A has an off-centre parting over the left eye with an 'extra' lock above; B has a simple side-parting over the right eye. It is possible that these were copied or adapted from defined imperial types, but given the near-total lack of particularity in the faces, it cannot be assumed for the hair. In other words, it is not possible to tell whether we have a pair of generic, invented Julio-Claudian portraits, or simplified versions of defined but idealized types.
Source: Smith R.R.R., “The Imperial Reliefs from the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias”, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 77 (1987).
Roman bas-relief
Claudius – early Nero age (41 – 58 AD)
Aphrodisias, Archaeological Museum
Aphrodisias, Caria, Turkey