Life-Size Marble head of a Boy with the Features of the Childlike Elagabalus

Culture: Roman

Period: 200-225 A.D.

Material: Marble

Dimensions: 21 cm high

Price: 28.000 Euro

Ref: 3696

Provenance: From the private collection of the US singer, beauty queen and women’s right activist Yolande Betbeze Fox (1928-2016), acquired in the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Sold as part of the estate auction “The Estate Sale of Yolande Betbeze Fox”, 17-20 November 2016. Thence with Rupert Wace London. Thence in the US art market and private estate. Last with Hindman auction Chicago on 16 April 2019, lot 167.

Condition: Wear and encrustation as seen on the picture. The once restored nose removed again. Otherwise unrestored.

Description: Exceedingly naturalistic and in detail worked out marble head of a youth, who strongly reminds with his round cheeks, slightly tired eyes under thick lids, strong chin with dimples and a hairstyle gently parted in the middle of the portrait of emperor Elagabalus. The mouth with its broad lips is formed to a gentle, almost hidden smile. The boy is between eight and ten years old, his hair is thick, slightly wavy and combed forward. The head form is noble with a round back of the head. The large eyes have pierced pupils in the upper part and give him a friendly, but at the same time somewhat tired impression. Although the features and the hairstyle remind in almost all details of type 2 of the portraits of emperor Elagabalus (204-222 A.D.), a definite attribution cannot be confirmed because Elagabalus in type 2 was always depicted with a thin whisker and moustache, to let him appear more mature. Since Elagabalus, who actually called himself Marcus Aurelius Antoninus as emperor, made an impression with his extraordinary physical beauty, there was certainly a desire to emulate the imperial ideal in portrait art. An exceptionally high quality head of a youth dating to the 3rd century A.D. On an old wood base.