Several groups of men’s and women’s portraits form a chronological series both for style and for the development of Roman portraiture. They include images of several emperors and their wives, providing a solid framework for those of private citizens. Starting with a head of Antoninus Pius (138-161, no. 58), the successor of Hadrian, the series terminates with a portrait of the founder of the new dynasty, Septimius Severus (193-211, no. 63). The group is presented in two halves, ladies first. This is justifiable because their hairstyles provide a separate, parallel chronological check, but comparable pieces from the group of men will be referred to constantly.
51 The first woman in this group actually dates from the previous reign. Her head is clearly Hadrianic in coiffure, style, and portrait type. The spirit of Sabina (nos. 43, 44) is diluted, however, and while the piece comes from Asia Minor it seems to emphasize traditional Roman virtues. The lady appears solid, pragmatic, and respectable. There is no nonsense about her. If she has feelings, they are not shown. The head was worked separately as a good portrait to attach to a standard body. It is the body type that determined the placement of the portrait here amid the Antonine ladies. It reproduces the type called the Small Herculaneum Woman, repeated countless times as the body support for heads of both Roman girls and matrons. Our piece is of rather good workmanship, even if the marble is of a slightly inferior grade than the quality of the stone used for the head. The Greek prototype for the statue originated in the fourth century B. C. and is loosely connected to the creations of the school of Praxiteles. So is the prototype of the next statue, the Large Herculaneum Woman, which, as its name implies, was carved as a pendant to the other. Both are embodiments of graceful modesty and perhaps originally represented the goddesses Persephone and Demeter. Both were frequently copies, both with ideal heads and as supports for portraits, in Roman times.
52 The portrait head of the intact statue of the Large Herculaneum Woman is of Faustina the Eider (d, 140/ 1), wife of the emperor Antoninus Pius (no. 58), Here the statue and the head were carved from the same block of marble, and the sculptor left a big lump of uncut marble at the nape to protect against easy breakage, a technical detail previously noted as peculiar to Asia Minor workshops. The craftsmanship is very correct, even if the treatment of the elaborate drapery folds gives the impression of academic coldness. The head itself is a rather mechanical repetition of the standard type used for the empress. The statue, slightly over life-size, must have originally been part of a large group including other members of the imperial house. We can visualize this Faustina with our Antoninus Pius (no. 58) alongside her. Even in the weathered condition of the emperor’s head, however, the workmanship is dearly different, at the same time more rustic and more free. Another interesting detail about our Faustina is her modern state of preservation. The small restorations of the face and hands were recently removed, but the carving of the front of the base and the inscription giving the empress’s name remain and may date back to the seventeenth century. The general aspect of these modern interpolations is reminiscent of the marbles collected by the earl of Arundel (c. 1585-1646) that mark the beginning of collecting in England. The origin in Asia Minor agrees with this speculation.
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