| Bust of Hadrian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Medium | Marble sculpture |
| Subject | Hadrian |
| Location | British Museum,London, United Kingdom |
A bust ofHadrian (r. 117 – 138 AD), the second-centuryRoman emperor who rebuilt thePantheon and constructed theTemple of Venus and Roma, was formerly displayed inPope Sixtus V's Villa Montalto and is now displayed at theBritish Museum in London.[1] The bust is one of theTownley Marbles collected byCharles Townley (1737–1805) and sold by his heirPeregrine Edward Towneley at a reduced price to the British Museum in 1805. Unlike most busts of Hadrian and other emperors, it shows him inheroic nudity.[1] The bust was found in Rome and is carved from Greek marble.[2]
.jpg)
The Townley bust is comparable with a bronze head of Hadrian in theLouvre.[3] The type is characterized by an elaboratehairstyle of thick curls combed forwards.[3] Both the marble bust and the bronze head have features similar to the marbleHead of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) found onStonegate, a street inYork above the ancientvia praetoria thoroughfare of thecastra atEboracum, garrison of theVIVictrixRoman legion from Hadrian's reign.[3] It is likely that the York and Louvre heads were images of Hadrian contemporary with the Townley bust, with the York example having been re-carved with the image of Constantine wearing acorona civica after theBattle of the Milvian Bridge.[3]
The Townley bust, like other genuine statues of Hadrian, portrays his distinctively creased earlobes. It has been suggested from these that Hadrian suffered from, and eventually died from,coronary artery disease.[4][5]
Charles Townley acquired the bust for £105 in March 1795 from Barwell Brown, the son of theantiquary and art dealerLyde Browne, together with a veiled statue head ofAdonis. He paid £168 for the pair, including transport fromLivorno, in March the following year, as well as £8/6 (5%) interest on the delay.[1] Townley annotated his copy of the work ofEnnio Quirino Visconti listing the portraits of Hadrian, indicating that he was in possession of this example.[1]
At the British Museum's exhibition onHadrian: Empire and Conflict in 2008, the bust was included in one of two galleries of busts representing distinct phases in Hadrian's life, one earlier and dominated by the women of theNerva–Trajan dynasty, the later without female portraits.[6] In the exhibition the Townley bust appeared in the earlier group, arranged together with busts of Hadrian'sVibia Sabina, mother-in-lawSalonia Matidia, and grandmother-in-lawUlpia Marciana alongside busts of Marciana's brother, Hadrian's predecessor emperorTrajan (r. 98–117) and his own wifePlotina.[6] Trajan and Hadrian were provincial Romans fromItalica inHispania Baetica on theIberian Peninsula.[6] The exhibition layout alluded to the rumour that Plotina had arranged Hadrian's rise to power.[6]
The bust has since been displayed alongside abust ofAntinous, Hadrian's lover fromBithynia, an arrangement commented on byJanina Ramirez in the 2020BBC Four documentaryMuseums in Quarantine.[7] Unlike Hadrian, sculptures of Antinous are more often than not nude.
.jpg)
_and_his_2nd_cousin_Salonina_Matidia_(niece_and_adoptive_daughter_of_Trajan)%2c_British_Museum_(9460476186).jpg)
Following is an overview of the work's exhibition history:[1]
Media related toBust of Hadrianus nude, Townley (BM Sc1899) at Wikimedia Commons
