Patrician Torlonia
Bust No. 535 of the Torlonia Collection, also called the Patrician Torlonia or the Old Man of Otricoli,[1] is a marble bust,[2] sometimes said to portray Marcus Porcius Cato Censorius, though also noted as being of "an unknown Roman politician".[3] It is a copy of a Tiberian era bust (1st century AD), itself thought to be a copy of an original dating from around 80–70 BC. The piece is executed in the late republican portrait style later known as verism, which "emphasize[s] the physical signs of aging... as evidence of an individual's experience, character, and virtues".[4]
The Patrician was added to the Torlonia Museum as part of a gallery of busts depicting famous Romans "from Marius to the heirs of Constantine".[5] A catalog of 1884/5 says that the portrait was discovered at Otricoli and identifies its subject as Galba; there is no corroborating evidence for the findspot, and the identification is certainly incorrect, perhaps motivated by the need for a portrait of Galba to fill a gap in the collection.[5] The body of the bust, including the front of the neck, is a modern assemblage, possibly incorporating ancient fragments,[1] while the head is ancient, except for repairs to the right ear and the tip of the nose.[5]
Gallery
References
- ^ a b Çakmak and Raff, pg. 141.
- ^ Birley, A. R. (1971). "The Roman Soldier. By G. R. Watson. 8¾ × 5½. Pp. 256 including 26 plates. London: Thames and Hudson, 1969. £2.50". The Antiquaries Journal. 51 (1): 115–116. doi:10.1017/S0003581500019302. ISSN 1758-5309.
- ^ Brooks, Christopher (2020-01-06). "Chapter 8: The Roman Republic".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Çakmak and Raff, pgs. 28-29.
- ^ a b c Settis and Gasparri, pg. 142.
Bibliography
- Çakmak, Lisa Ayla; Raff, Katharine A., eds. (2025). Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection (1st ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300279658.
- Settis, Salvatore; Gasparri, Carlo, eds. (2021). The Torlonia Marbles: Collecting Masterpieces (1st ed.). Verona and New York: Electa S.p.A. and Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. ISBN 9788892820876.