A-Level: Identity – portraits in 3D works

This work is an example of provocation with a purpose.

Marc Quinn, Self

Realism, ideal beauty, and military might—explore the evolution of Roman portraits and political imagery.

Rome’s history in four faces at The ...

Neo-Sumerian / Ur III — Shown with an architectural plan in his lap, this prince constructed temples to the gods and likenesses of himself.

Seated Gudea holding temple plan

What do we gain when works come from a well-documented excavation?

The importance of the archaeological findspot: The ...

In ancient Rome, official portraits were full of political messages. What does Vespasian’s portrait say about him?

Portrait of Vespasian

Portrait Bust of a Flavian Woman (Fonseca Bust), from Rome, c. 100 C.E., marble, 63 cm (Capitoline Museums) — Is this delicate female portrait what we think? Take part in a discussion of a masterpiece we know little about.

Portrait Bust of a Flavian Woman (Fonseca ...

Owie Kimou, Baule Portrait Mask — This mask is a portrait of a particular woman, but was worn and danced by her male relatives.

Owie Kimou, Portrait Mask (Mblo) of Moya ...

Capitoline Brutus, 4th-3rd century B.C.E. bronze, 69 cm (Capitoline Museums, Rome) — Once identified as the founder of the Roman Republic, debate over this figure’s true identity rages on.

Capitoline Brutus

Portraits of the Four Tetrarchs, from Constantinople, c. 305, porphyry, 4' 3" high (St. Marks, Venice) — Learn how the solid, abstracted forms of these co-emperors reject earlier understanding of the human body.

Portraits of the Four Tetrarchs

Portrait Head of Queen Tiye with a Crown of Two Feathers, c. 1355 B.C.E., Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, New Kingdom, Egypt, yew wood, lapis lazuli, silver, gold, faience, 22.5 cm high (Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection at the Neues Museum, Berlin) — Tiye was a powerful figure, but her royal life was complicated, as demonstrated through this changing statue.

Portrait Head of Queen Tiye

Veristic male portrait (similar to Head of a Roman Patrician), early 1st Century B.C.E., marble, life size (Vatican Museums, Rome) — With age comes experience, and sculptors in the Roman Republic highlighted seniority—warts and all.

Veristic male portrait

The Colossus of Constantine, c. 312-15 (Palazzo dei Conservatori, Musei Capitolini, Rome) (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) — Does the abstraction of form and faraway look in this colossal portrait hint at the growth of Christianity in Rome?

The Colossus of Constantine

Thutmose, Model Bust of Queen Nefertiti, c. 1340 BCE, limestone and plaster, New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, Amarna Period (Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection/Neues Museum, Berlin) — Found in an artist’s studio, this stunning bust exemplifies a change in style, and may have been an early prototype.

Thutmose, Model Bust of Queen Nefertiti

House Altar depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Three of their Daughters, limestone, New Kingdom, Amarna period, 18th dynasty, c.1350 BCE (Ägyptisches Museum/Neues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) — Upon becoming pharaoh, Akhenaten revolutionized the religion and artistic style of Egypt—at least until his death.

House Altar depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Three ...

Ndop Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul (detail) — The king did not sit for this portrait; in fact, the artist carved it without directly observing his subject.

Ndop Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul ...

Houdon, George Washington — Lack of an American sculptural tradition compelled Jefferson to look to France for this portrait of Washington.

Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington

A Mayan ruler in ritual dress, Stela 51, Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico, 731 C.E.,(Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico D.F.) — Large stone sculptures was the principal medium for presenting Maya political and religious messages to the public.

Classic Maya portrait stelae

Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius, c. 173-76 C.E., bronze (Capitoline Museums, Rome) — Due to a fortunate case of mistaken identity, this commanding statue was saved from destruction.

Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius

Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st c. AD, Vatican Museums — Nothing was more important to a Roman emperor than his image.

Augustus of Primaporta

Head of a Roman Patrician from Otricoli, c. 75-50 BCE, marble (Palazzo Torlonia, Rome) — Wrinkled, toothless, and sagging: why would the Romans emphasize these features in a portrait?

Head of a Roman Patrician