Marble Statue Of Augustus And Bust Of Livia
The hallmark of portraits of augustus is a naturalistic classicism.
Marble statue of augustus and bust of livia. Marble head from an over life size statue of the empress livia as the goddess ceres from sicily about ad 30 50 roman empire british museum 15779028374 jpg 3 098 4 639. She was the mother of the emperor tiberius paternal grandmother of the emperor claudius paternal great. 30 january 59 58 bc 28 september ad 29 also known as julia augusta after her formal adoption into the julian family in ad 14 was the wife of the roman emperor augustus throughout his reign as well as his adviser. Livia a member of the roman nobility played a major role in the foundation of the julio claudian dynasty.
The wife of augustus. The roman marble portrait bust of livia will be offered in the antiquities sale on 25 october at christie s in new york as part of the fall classics season. A marble statue from livia s villa at prima porta in the vatican which presents him as addressing as it. Marble portrait of livia ca.
She is depicted with divine attributes such as the cornucopia which is a promise of fortune and prosperity through the activities of the roman imperial family. In deifying livia and by extension himself claudius both rehabilitated his grandmother s legacy and shored up his own legitimacy. Statue of deified empress livia this statue of the deified empress livia is an early imperial statue after a greek model of the goddess hera from the 5th century bc. Livia drusilla classical latin.
The discovery of a monumental marble statue of augustus during excavations at the villa of livia at prima porta in 1863 caused a sensation. Western sculpture western sculpture the empire. The statue was discovered on april 20 1863 at the villa of livia owned by augustus third wife livia drusilla in prima porta livia had retired to the villa after augustus s death. Born in 58 b c livia would have been in her 70s or 80s when it was carved probably in the reign of her son tiberius.
5 7 mb marble head of livia from a statue set up in a sanctuary at narona dalmatia modern croatia about ad 14 21 ashmolean museum 8401784394 jpg 2 732 3 993. It was in this statue that the imperial might of ancient rome seemed to be embodied and the image inspired a new generation of grand tourists in the second half of the 19th century. As the emperor augustus wife she exerted. This well executed head does not seek to be a lifelike portrait but depicts livia as an idealized youthful figure.
This basanite head is a portrait of livia born circa 57 bc died in ad 29 comparable to her effigies on coins and hardstone cameos such as the one in the hague. Augustus of prima porta italian. The rendering of his features and the forking of his hair above the brow is individual.