Hadrian as Mars - I
Hadrian (117-138 AD) depicted as Mars. He was the first Roman emperor to have himself represented as a god during his lifetime. According to a model probably originated during the age of Augustus, Hadrian and his wife Sabina are here likened to the lovers Mars and Venus, gods of war and love. The sculptural model, transmitted through five - six full-relief replicas, was created by Pasiteles, a Greek sculptor active in Rome at the end of the 1st century BC. The figure of Mars is inspired to a Greek artwork of the classical period, attributed to Alkamenes, and today known as the Ares Borghese from a replica exhibited at Louvre.
The emperor is represented as a heroic nude, bearing the military attributes of Mars: crested helmet, baldric, two-edged sword and breastplate laid on a tree trunk which serves as a support for the figure
The group was later altered for unknown reasons. The head of the female figure was changed and replaced by another ancient portrait: the features and hairstyle, essential indicators for the dating of Roman portraits, indicate that this is a late second-century portrait, probably of Lucilla, wife of Emperor Lucius Verus (161-169 CE). Hadrian's features, still easily recognizable, are made more anonymous in order to turn him into a generic figure.
Source: Louvre WEB Site
Roman marble sculpture
H. 191 cm-; W. 115 cm.
About 120 – 140 AD, modified in 170-175 AD
From Rome
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Inv. no. Ma 1009
Hadrian as Mars - I
Hadrian (117-138 AD) depicted as Mars. He was the first Roman emperor to have himself represented as a god during his lifetime. According to a model probably originated during the age of Augustus, Hadrian and his wife Sabina are here likened to the lovers Mars and Venus, gods of war and love. The sculptural model, transmitted through five - six full-relief replicas, was created by Pasiteles, a Greek sculptor active in Rome at the end of the 1st century BC. The figure of Mars is inspired to a Greek artwork of the classical period, attributed to Alkamenes, and today known as the Ares Borghese from a replica exhibited at Louvre.
The emperor is represented as a heroic nude, bearing the military attributes of Mars: crested helmet, baldric, two-edged sword and breastplate laid on a tree trunk which serves as a support for the figure
The group was later altered for unknown reasons. The head of the female figure was changed and replaced by another ancient portrait: the features and hairstyle, essential indicators for the dating of Roman portraits, indicate that this is a late second-century portrait, probably of Lucilla, wife of Emperor Lucius Verus (161-169 CE). Hadrian's features, still easily recognizable, are made more anonymous in order to turn him into a generic figure.
Source: Louvre WEB Site
Roman marble sculpture
H. 191 cm-; W. 115 cm.
About 120 – 140 AD, modified in 170-175 AD
From Rome
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Inv. no. Ma 1009