id: 141657 accession number: 1965.247 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1965.247 updated: 2023-08-24 11:35:33.045000 Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man, AD 280–90. Late Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century. Marble; overall: 33.5 x 20.1 x 10 cm (13 3/16 x 7 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1965.247 title: Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: AD 280–90 creation date earliest: 280 creation date latest: 290 current location: 104 Late Antiquity creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: late Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century technique: marble department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Early Christian type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 33.5 x 20.1 x 10 cm (13 3/16 x 7 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions opening date: 1966-09-10T04:00:00 Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966). title: Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture opening date: 2006-09-26T00:00:00 Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 26, 2006-February 19, 2007). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Metropolitan Museum of Art (9/26/2006 - 2/19/2007): "Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture" --- PROVENANCE according to William Wixom, an unconfirmed report tells us that the entire group (1965.237-1965.247) was found in a single, huge pithos or jar. (J. J. Klejman, New York). date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: These busts are thought to have been unearthed with the Good Shepherd and Jonah sculptures. The nearly identical facial characteristics of each sitter-three males and three females-suggest that the same man and woman was represented three times. Although the intended function of the busts remains unknown, they probably represent a husband and wife. The portraits have been dated stylistically, as well as by costume and hairstyle, to the 270s ad. One of the men wears a paludamentum, or fringed cloak. One of the women wears a decorative stole, an attribute of rank probably conferred on her by her husband. The most distinctive feature of the female portraits is the hairstyle, a variation of the scheitzelkopf, in which the hair, after being combed behind the ears down to the nape of the neck, is braided, pulled up over the top of the head and folded under at the front. Careful study of the evolution of women's coiffures supports a date of 270 to 280 ad for the portraits, about the same as the symbolic sculptures of Jonah and the Good Shepherd. The rarity of intentionally paired portrait busts in late antiquity, especially those in a series, raises questions as to their original function. The busts may have been commemorative and intended for distribution as diplomatic gifts. It is likely that they were commissioned by a single, important patron or family to enhance their social or political status. --- RELATED WORKS id: 141652 Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man, AD 280-90. Later Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century. Marble; overall: 33.4 x 21 x 11.5 cm (13 1/8 x 8 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1965.242 relationship: id: 141653 Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman, AD 280-90. Later Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century. Marble; overall: 33.4 x 18.5 x 10.7 cm (13 1/8 x 7 5/16 x 4 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1965.243 relationship: id: 141654 Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman, AD 280-90. Later Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century. Marble; overall: 31.5 x 19 x 10.8 cm (12 3/8 x 7 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1965.244 relationship: id: 141655 Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Man, AD 280-90. Later Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century. Marble; overall: 35.2 x 21.5 x 12 cm (13 7/8 x 8 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1965.245 relationship: id: 141656 Portrait Bust of an Aristocratic Woman, AD 280-90. Late Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian period, 3rd century. Marble; overall: 33.2 x 20 x 14 cm (13 1/16 x 7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1965.246 relationship: --- CITATIONS McColl, Donald Alexander. Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland in Their Eastern Mediterranean Context. 1991. page number: url: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Margaret English Frazer, and Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Museum, 1977. page number: 407-411 url: Kitzinger, Ernst. 1978. "The Cleveland Marbles". I Monumenti Cristiani Preconstantiniani. 653-675. page number: url: Weitzmann, Kurt, and Margaret English Frazer. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century ; Based on the Catalogue to the Exhibition "Age of Spirituality", Metropolitan Museum New York, 1977. [New York, NY]: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. page number: pp. 406-411 url: https://books.google.com/books?id=efLuB7QPDm8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cleveland&f=false The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. page number: Reproduced: p. 14 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n29 Lehman, Karen M. "Sacred and Profane Hellenizing Marbles of the Late Third Century Roman Empire: Secular Portraits and Religious Narrative Sculptures in the Cleveland Museum of Art Reviewed in the Cultural Context." M.A. thesis, Kent State University, 2004. page number: Mentioned: p; iv, Reproduced: p. 88, fig. 5 url: Rumscheid, Frank, Sabine Schre, and Kornelia Kressirer. Göttliche Ungerechtigkeit?: Strafen und Glaubensprüfungen als Themen antiker und frühchristlicher Kunst. Petersberg: Dr. M. Imhof,2018. page number: Reproduced; p. 299; IV.2.3 Abb. 3: Portratbusten url: Bol, Peter, Carola Reinsberg, Renate Bol, D. Kreikenbom, Hans-Ulrich Cain, Heike Richter, and Britta Özen-Kleine. Plastik der römischen Kaiserzeit vom Regierungsantritt des Antoninus Pius bis zum Ende der Antike. Worms : Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbh, 2019. page number: Mentioned: p. 189, 191-192; Reproduced: Textabb. 97, p. 190, Abb 180a-b (bd.2) url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1965.247/1965.247_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1965.247/1965.247_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1965.247/1965.247_full.tif