figure

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Object Type: figure
Museum number: 1965,1201.1
Description: Copper alloy head of the emperor Nero from a life-size statue. The face is heart-shaped, with a strong chin and nose, large, slightly slanting eyes and prominent low-set ears. The hair is combed forward in a thick strands from a flattish crown; it forms a heavy fringe which divides just over the right eye (CSIR I, 8).
Cultures/periods: Romano-British
Production date: 54-59 (Accession Portrait style (II))
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Saxmundham, Found at the River Alde at Rendham, near Saxmundham, Suffolk
Materials: copper alloy
Dimensions: Height: 315 millimetres; Width: 245 millimetres; Depth: 250 millimetres
Curator's comments: 'Statues of Nero were erected throughout the Empire. This bronze head.... shows his characteristic accession period hairstyle of the mid-fifties AD, with its simple fringe and central parting.... Thie eyes were originally inlaid in a different material. It was probably produced in the north-west provinces, perhaps Gaul. The sliight incongruity between the frontal and profile views... often found in imperial portraits fro this region, may reflect limited access to three-dimensional models from Rome - images were based on coin impressions instead. Ther head was found in the River Alde in Suffolk, on the boundary between Iceni and Trinovantes tribal land, which suggests that it may have been purposefully deposited there as an offering. The complete statue was likely torn down in nearby Camulodunum during the Boudiccan rebellion' (Opper 2021, 111).; Other media: For a discussion of the head, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsO7-vvn5VA
Bibliographic references: CSIR I, 8 / Roman Sculpture from Eastern England (no. 23); Potter 1997 / Roman Britiain (p.10, pl.3); Lahusen & Formigli 2001 / Romische Bildnisse aus Bronze. Kunst und Technik. (no. 89); Hobbs & Jackson 2010 / Roman Britain Life at the Edge of Empire (p. 35, fig. 23); Russell and Manley 2013 / A case of mistaken identity? Laser-scanning the bronze 'Claudius' from near Saxmundham; Opper 2021 / Nero. The man behind the myth (p. 111, fig. 87)
Location: On display (G49/dc14)
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2019 5 Apr-27 Oct, Rome, Museo dell'Ara Pacis, 'Claudio Imperatore' 2018-2019 1 Dec-4 Mar, France, Musee des Beaux Arts de Lyon, Claude Empereur 2016-17, 13 Oct-7 May, BM, G69a, Defacing the past: desecration and damnation in imperial Rome 2013 14 Sep - 2014 24 Feb, Norwich, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Masterpieces: Art and East Anglia 1996 30 Mar-13 Nov, Italy, Rimini, Sala dell’Arengo, Dalla Terra Alle Genti 1963 May-Aug, Paris, Musee du Louvre, L'Art dans les Provinces Romaines d'Occident 1961 26 Jun-22 Jul, London, Goldsmiths Hall, 50th Anniversary of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 2021 May 27-Oct 24, London, BM SEG, Nero
Condition: Well-preserved but with signs of a heavy blow to the back of the skull. The head has been broken from the original statue in a jagged line at the neck. Small holes on the crown and on the left side of the neck. Eyes (originally of enamel paste, inlaid) are now lost (CSIR I, 8).
Subjects: emperor/empress
Associated names: Representation of: Nero
Associated objects: cast (CRM.2388); cast (CRM.2384); cast (CRM.2385); cast (CRM.2386); cast (CRM.2387); cast (CRM.2237); cast (CRM.2238); cast (CRM.2239); cast (CRM.2235); cast (CRM.2236)
Acquisition name: Purchased through: Sotheby's
Funder name: With contribution from: Art Fund (as NACF)
Previous owner: Previous owner/ex-collection: Mrs D Hollond
Acquisition date: 1965
Acquisition notes: Deposited on loan to the museum in 1950, by Mrs Hollond.
Department: Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Registration number: 1965,1201.1

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