Bust of Germanicus

A.D. 20–40

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

51.4 × 38 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-244285

The stately bust in white marble, complete and with the neck unbroken, is of a young man, with his head turned to the right. Large open eyes without carved irises or pupils; a strong, moderately aquiline nose; a small yet fleshy mouth with protruding upper lip; and smooth cheeks converging into a pointed, energetic chin characterize the man’s face. His hair is composed of crescent- and s-shaped curls, leaving the ears uncovered and forming a seemingly casual fringe of locks that fall halfway down his forehead. Long sideburns merge into a continuous chin beard, while the rest of the face appears cleanshaven or too young for the onset of facial hair. In the back, the hair reaches deep down the neck. Below the pronounced larynx, two “Venus rings” are incised around the neck. The naked bust is of semicircular cut, reaching down to above the sternum and out to the distal ends of the clavicles. The bust depicts the young Germanicus before the depositio barbae, the Roman ritual first shaving of the beard. While the image, or portrait type, was created at the time of his adoption by Tiberius in A.D. 4, this bust is a posthumous portrait of the popular general, who was being groomed to…