Terracotta portrait bust of a man from Cumae: view from back right
Terracotta portrait bust of a man from Cumae: three-quarter view from left
Terracotta portrait bust of a man from Cumae: right profile view
Terracotta portrait bust of a man from Cumae: three-quarter view from right
Terracotta portrait bust of a man from Cumae: view from the right
Terracotta portrait bust of a man from Cumae: left profile view
| Collection: | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
| Title: | Terracotta portrait of a man |
| Context: | Possibly from Cumae |
| Findspot: | Found near Cumae, to the NW of the Bay of Naples, ca. 1895. |
| Summary: | Bust of an older man |
| Object Function: | Unknown |
| Material: | Terracotta |
| Sculpture Type: | Free-standing portrait bust |
| Category: | Single monument |
| Style: | Late Republican |
| Technique: | In-the-round |
| Original or Copy: | Original |
| Date: | ca. 50 BC |
| Dimensions: | H. 0.357 m; L. (face) 0.18 m |
| Scale: | Life-size |
| Region: | Campania |
| Period: | Late Republican |
Subject Description: Portrait of an older man, his head turned slightly to the right, with facial wrinkles and sagging flesh, especially around the throat. A small wart is visible under the inside of the left eye. The subject has a sober expression, with the corners of his mouth turned downwards, and slightly furrowed brows. While the nationality of the man is unknown, most scholars assume that he is an Italian. Vermeule introduces the theory that the man may have been Greek, since he lacks the severely veristic style of other portraits of Roman men made during the same period (Vermeule 37-38).
Form & Style: Schweitzer refers to the style of this portrait as "painterly-pathetic" (quoted in Hiesinger 811). Vermeule describes the portrait as having both veristic and ideal qualigies (Vermeule 37). The bust has also been grouped with the Delian portraits by Stewart, suggesting that it may have been imported to Cumae (bozetto or model for a portrait that would have been copied at a later time into a more durable and labor intensive material, such as marble or other hard stone (Hiesinger 816). The bust, therefore, probably served as a study for a subsequent work.
Condition: Head only (complete)
Condition Description: The bust is complete and intact, with the exception of a small chunk missing from the nape of the neck. There is a small hole at the base of the neck on the right side, which appears to have been made when the work was produced. The terracotta shows evidence of weathering, as indicated by the gray surface.
Material Description: Grayish-orange terracotta
Technique Description: The facial features are very well defined, while the hair appears to have been loosely sculpted, perhaps by the sculptor's finger-tips. This suggests that the portrait was made from a life mask. Vermeule suggests a likely method by which the mask was made. Wet plaster would have been laid on the subject's face, while the subject was supine, in repose. A straw would have been inserted into the left nostril for breathing, as explained by Vermeule (28): "the right nostril is pressed against the cartilage of the nose, while the left is puffed or flared out." The subject would then remain very still while the plaster hardened, in order for the plaster to capture every line, wrinkle, and facial flaw. When completed, the mask would have been attached to the remaining part of the bust. It is evident that the eyebrows were defined by hand, and the pupils incised. The other details of the portrait, including the ears and hair, would also have been molded by hand. This would serve as a plausible explanation as to why the subject's hair and back of head appears to have been given less attention than the facial features.
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