Canon I Cal Portraits [Aste
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HESPERIA 69, 2000 UN CANON I CAL Pages 0S-132 IMPE RIAL PORTRAITS I N TH E [ASTE RN ROMAN P ROVI NCES THE CASE OF THE KANELLOPOULOS EMPEROR ABSTRACT 1. This articlegrew out of a paper The identity of the imperial portrait in the Kanellopoulos Museum in Ath- originallypresented at the Archaeologi- ens has baffledmodern viewers. The portraitlacks an inscriptionand the prov- cal Institute of America Annual enance is unknown, although it is probablyfrom the Roman East. The por- Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1994. traitbears the imperialattribute of a coronacivica yet its featuresdo not closely I am indebted to many scholarsfor their contributionsand advice, resemble those of any emperor.Comparison with other provincialimperial especiallythose who read this articlein portraits in sculpture and on coins reveals that deviation from Roman ca- earlierstages, including Alan Shapiro, nonical types is common, a finding also supported in the ancient literature. Andrew Stewart,Fred Kleiner,and the Stylistic analysisplaces the portraitin the early 2nd century,so the Kanello- anonymousreviewers for Hesperia. poulos Emperor is probablyTrajan. Their helpful comments and insightful suggestions caused me to rethink and reworkthis article significantly,and I In the collections of the small but impressive Kanellopoulos Museum, lo- am deeply grateful.Thanks also to all cated on the northern slopes of the Acropolis in Athens, an imperial por- who suppliedphotographs: Maria trait is displayed (Figs. 1-4).1 The identity of the figure cannot be easily Andreadaki,Vanna Niniou-Kindelis, determined by conventional methods. The imperial status of the image is and George Skoulas,Chania Museum; secure.The portrait, measuring 35 cm in height, is greater than life size, a Mari Aurenhammer,Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna;Unal Demirer, common characteristicof Roman imperial portraits.2In addition, the por- Antalya Museum; Roland Etienne, trait is of very high quality, both in material and carving. It was sculpted Ecole fran aise d'Ath&nes;Axel Filges, from a good block of finely grained white marble.3The eyes, now missing, Deutsches ArchaologischesInstitut, were originally inlaid in a contrasting material that would certainly have Istanbul;Ev. Giannoussaki,National added a richness to the sculpture and no doubt also provided it with a ArchaeologicalMuseum, Athens; Helle W. Horsnaesand Jorgen Steen Jensen, sense of liveliness, now entirely absent from the blank stare and impassive National Museum, Copenhagen;Jan expression that currentlygreet the viewer.The only surviving attribute is a Jordan,American School of Classical leafy crown embeflished with a centraljeweled cameo, on which faint traces Studies at Athens, Agora Excavations; of a relief can be detected. Ilona Trabert,Staatliche Museen zu The crown on the portrait guarantees the imperial status of the per- Berlin-PreussischerKulturbesitz son represented. Exact interpretation of wreaths worn in Roman portraits Antikensammlung,Berlin; Bekir Tuluk, Efes Muizesi,Seljuk; Deutsches is often difficult because so many types are known from literary sources, ArchaologischesInstitut, Athens; but this particularwreath is clearly intended to show a garland of multi- StaatlicheAntiken Sammlungen, lobed leaves woven together (although the lack of detail in the execution Munich; and William E. Metcalf, does not allow for much texturalvariety). The crown represents oak leaves, American Numismatic Society. which are multilobed, rather than laurel leaves, which have a single lobe 2. PekAry1985, pp. 81-83. 3. It appearsto be Pentelic;Dontas and are the only other type of leaf regularly used in Roman crowns. Oak 1975,p.521. leaves were used in the corona civica, the headdress at one time awarded to American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Hesperia ® www.jstor.org io6 LEE ANN RICCARDI Romans who saved the lives of fellow citizens in battle. From the time of Figure1. Kanellopoulosemperor, frontalview. Kanellopoulos Mu- Claudius onward the coronacivica became a special attribute worn only by seum. CourtesyDeutsches Archaologisches the emperor.4 The oak was sacred to Jupiter, and it grew abundantly Institut, Athens throughout the Roman empire, making its use in the coronacivica both (neg. 83/229) practical and a symbol of divine sanction. Here, the presence of the central jewel may have been intended to indicate further a special category of Figure2. Kanellopoulosemperor, coronacivica, the gilded oak-leaf wreath given to a triumphator.5Through- right profile. CourtesyDeutsches out most of the Imperial period both the coronacivica and the coronatri- ArchaiologischesInstitut, Athens (neg. 83/230) umphaliswere exclusive attributes of the emperor.6 4. Gland~ferimaximegeneris omnes, 13; Gell. NA 5.6; Sen. Clem.1.26.5. suggeststhat the portraitsdo not repre- quibus honos apud romanosperpetuus:hinc 5. Massner(1988) suggeststhat the sent recognizableindividuals, but rather civicae coronae,militum virtutis insigne presenceof the centraljewel on the priests.This is, however,a particularly clarissimum,iam pridem vero et clementiae crownof a northernGreek portraitin the difficultargument for the Kanellopoulos imperatorum,postquam civilium bellorum late 1st or early2nd centuryturns the head, on which the leavesare clearly profano meritum coepit videri civem non leafywreath into an attributeof a priest defined as oak, a materialexclusively used occidere("They are practically all of the or a magistrate.Her argumentis made for imperialcrowns, and the medallionis acorn-bearingclass of oak,which is ever primarilybecause she finds this head's impressivelylarge. Additionally, the held in honourat Rome, becausefrom it lack of conformityto any emperor's inlaid eyes and largesize of the portrait are obtainedthe Civic Wreaths,that known portraittype so troublingthat she point to its imperialstatus. Moreover, the gloriousemblem of militaryvalour, but wants to deny that its crownis an attestedorigin in northernGreece is not now for a long time past also an emblem imperialattribute. For supporting secure(see note 7 below), and thereforeit of the emperors'clemency, ever since, evidenceshe cites three portraitsfrom may not belong geographicallywith this owing to the impietyof the civil wars, Thasos, all of which wearleafy crowns groupat all. not to kill a fellow-citizenhad come to with centralmedallions, and all of which 6. RE IV, 1901, cols. 1639-1640, s.v. be deemed meritorious").Plin. HN have been identifiedas Roman rulers corona(G. Haebler);Heinen 1911, 16.2.6-3.7; trans.H. Rackham,Pliny, (JuliusCaesar, Claudius, and Claudius/ p. 152, note 2; Alfoldi 1935, pp. 10-12; Natural History (Cambridge, Mass., Nero?).None of them closely adheresto Versnel1970, pp. 74-77; Maxfield 1981, 1945), p. 391. See also Plin. HN 16.12- any known portraittype. Massner pp. 70-81,97. UNCANONICAL IMPERIAL PORTRAITS I07 Figure 3. Kaneliopoulos emperor, Therefore, because of its crown, size, and rich inlay originally present left profile. CourtesyDeutsches in the eyes, the portrait can be none other than that of a Roman emperor. ArchaologischesInstitut, Athens (neg. 83/231) The face, however, does not readily conform to known portrait types of any imperial figure. The ancient viewer would have known whose image Figure 4. Kanellopoulos emperor, was intended by the inscription that accompanied the portrait and also rear view. CourtesyDeutsches perhaps from the context in which it was displayed. But today, with the ArchaologischesInstitut, Athens inscription and context lost,7 modern viewers are left wondering who the (neg. 83/232) artist intended to represent. Some Roman emperors can be immediately ruled out. The sparse use of the drill indicates that this sculpture represents an emperor whose por- trait type was created during a time when coloristic effects of light and shadow (normally achieved through deeply drilled areasin the stone) were not the preferred aesthetic in imperial portraits. This deeply drilled style was first used in imperial portraits under Hadrian, and was especially ad- mired in the portraits of the Late Antonine and Severan emperors, as ex- emplified in numerous images of the emperors Lucius Verus, Commodus, and Septimius Severus.8 Exuberant use of the drill is lacking on the Kanellopoulos head, however, suggesting that the portrait should be placed either before Hadrian or after Septimius Severus. 7. The only informationknown 8. Portraitsfrom these erassurvive in 76-78, 80-84, 88, 90-92, 97-99, 128- about the provenanceof the head is that abundantnumbers and compilationsof 130; pls. 121-124,129-139, 141-146, Paul Kanellopoulos,who assembledthe them arelikewise numerous.Among the 150-153,202-207); and Fittschen and entire collection in the museum before most importantand well-illustrated Zanker1985 (see pp. 62-98, nos. 58-85, donating it to the Greek government,is volumes areWegner 1939; McCann pls. 66-104, suppl.pls. 39-66, 96, with reportedto have bought the piece in 1968; Poulsen1974 (see pp. 95-100, references). Thessaloniki;Dontas 1975, p. 527. 103,105-106,109-110,130-132; nos. I08 LEE ANN RICCARDI Further clues are provided.The sculpture is extremely well preserved, and its smooth, polished cheeks betray no trace of facial hair. In the post- Severan 3rd century, the soldier emperors wore beards, usually variations on the close-cropped type favored by Caracalla.9The only exceptions were child emperors, such as Gordian III. Elimination of the 3rd-century emperors as candidates