The Augustus of Prima Porta () is a full-length portrait statue of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

, the first Roman emperor. The statue was discovered on April 20, 1863, during archaeological excavations directed by Giuseppe Gagliardi at the Villa of Livia owned by Augustus's third and final wife,

Livia Drusilla Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julia ''gens'' in AD 1 ...

in Prima Porta. Livia had retired to the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

after Augustus's death in AD 14. Its discovery was first publicized by the German archeologist Wilhelm Henzen the same year. Crafted by skilled Greek sculptors, the marble statue is believed to be a copy of a lost original bronze piece displayed in Rome. It blends

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Roman elements to craft an idealized official image of Augustus, its execution showcasing his grasp of visual influence. While the head portrays a realistic youthful Augustus, the body diverges from reality; despite its clothed form, the body's stance reflects the heroic stance found in Greek statues. The detailed armor, depicting a Parthian returning standards to a Roman, symbolizes peace along the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. The statue stands tall and weighs . The Augustus of Prima Porta is now displayed in the (New Arm) of the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

. Since its discovery, it has become the best known of Augustus's portraits and one of the most famous sculptures of the ancient world.

Original

The imagery on the cuirass (typical of legates) refers to the Parthian restitution of the Roman eagles, or insignia, in 20 BC, one of Augustus's most significant diplomatic accomplishments. The date of the (hypothetical) bronze original is therefore later than 20 BC. The detailed armor, depicting a Parthian returning standards to a Roman, symbolizes peace along the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. The fact that Augustus is depicted barefooted is intended to be a divine representation, as this was a standard depiction of gods or heroes in classical iconography. The date of the marble copy would presumably fall between that date and Livia's death in AD 29. The statue might have been commissioned by Tiberius, the son of Livia and successor to Augustus. This hypothesis is based on the fact that Tiberius, who served as an intermediary in the recovery of the eagles, is also depicted on the cuirass. As this act was the greatest service he had performed for Augustus, the breastplate imagery would remind viewers of Tiberius's connection to the deified emperor and suggest continuity between both reigns. It is also possible that it was commissioned by Livia herself, Augustus's wife at the time of his death.

Style

Augustus is shown in his role of ''

imperator The title of ''imperator'' ( ) originally meant the rough equivalent of ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later, it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as their praenomen. The Roman emperors generally based their autho ...

'', the commander of the army, as ''thoracatus'' —or commander-in-chief of the Roman army (literally,

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

-wearer)—meaning the statue should form part of a commemorative monument to his latest victories; he is in military clothing, carrying what may have been a spear or a consular baton, and raising his right hand in a rhetorical '' adlocutio'' pose, addressing the troops. The bas-reliefs on his armored

cuirass A cuirass ( ; ; ) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term probably originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word and the Latin word . The us ...

have a complex allegorical and political agenda, alluding to diverse Roman deities, including Mars, god of war, as well as the personifications of the latest territories he conquered:

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

Parthia Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...

(that had humiliated Crassus, and here appears in the act of returning the standards captured from his legions); at the top, the chariot of the Sun illuminates Augustus's deeds. The statue is an idealized image of Augustus showing a standard pose of a Roman orator and based on the 5th-century BC statue of the Spear Bearer or '' Doryphoros'' by the sculptor

Polykleitos Polykleitos (; ) was an ancient Greek sculptor, active in the 5th century BCE. Alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias, Myron and Praxiteles, he is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity. The 4th century B ...

. The ''Doryphoross contrapposto stance, creating diagonals between tense and relaxed limbs, a feature typical of classical sculpture, is adapted here. The pose of the statue's legs is similar to ''Doryphoros''. The right leg is taut, while the left leg is relaxed, as if the statue is moving forward. The misidentification of the ''Doryphoros'' in the Roman period as representing the warrior

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

made the model all the more appropriate for this image. Despite the Republican influence in the portrait head, the overall style is closer to Hellenistic idealization than to the realism of Roman portraiture. The reason for this style shift is the acquisition of Greek art. Following each conquest, the Romans brought back large amounts of Greek art. This flow of Greek artifacts changed Romans' aesthetic tastes, and these art pieces were regarded as a symbol of wealth and status for the Roman upper class. Despite the accuracy with which Augustus's features are depicted (with his somber look and characteristic fringe of hair on his forehead), the distant and tranquil expression of his face has been idealized, as have the conventional contrapposto, the anatomical proportions and the deeply draped '' paludamentum'' or "cloth of the commander". On the other hand, Augustus's barefootedness and the inclusion of

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

riding a dolphin as structural support for the statue reveals his mythical connection to the goddess Venus (Cupid's mother) by way of his adopted father Julius Caesar. The clear Greek inspiration in style and symbol for official sculptural portraits, which under the Roman emperors became instruments of governmental propaganda, is a central part of the Augustan ideological campaign, a shift from the Roman Republican era iconography where old and wise features were seen as symbols of solemn character. Therefore, the Prima Porta statue marks a conscious reversal of iconography to the Greek classical and Hellenistic period, in which youth and strength were valued as signs of leadership, emulating heroes and culminating in Alexander the Great himself. Such a statue's political function was very obvious—to show Rome that the emperor Augustus was an exceptional figure, comparable to the heroes worthy of being raised to divine status on Olympus, and the best man to govern Rome.

Polychromy

It is almost certain that the ''Augustus'' was originally painted, but so few traces remain today (having been lost in the ground and having faded since discovery) that historians have had to fall back on old watercolors and new scientific investigations for evidence. Vincenz Brinkmann of Munich researched the use of color on ancient sculpture in the 1980s using ultraviolet rays to find traces of color. Today, the

have produced a copy of the statue so as to paint it in the theorized original colors, as confirmed when the statue was cleaned in 1999. However, an art historian of the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Fabio Barry, has criticized this reconstitution as unsubtle and exaggerated, while other critics have argued that there are many notable differences between the original Prima Porta of Augustus and the painted recreation. However, due to the ongoing disagreement on the statue's pigmentation there is little information on or exploration of the usage of these colors. Another copy was painted with a different color scheme for the Tarraco Viva 2014 Festival. Since at least the 18th century, the familiar sight of Roman sculptures that lack their original paint has encouraged the idea that monochromy is the natural condition for classical sculpture; but surface treatment is now recognized as integral to the overall effect of the sculpture. The writings of second-century polymath Lucian provide a good example of how color functioned for a work of that time, "I Fear I stand in the way of her most important feature!... the rest of the body let

Apelles Apelles of Kos (; ; fl. 4th century BC) was a renowned Painting, painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom much of modern scholars' knowledge of this artist is owed (''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia'' 35.36.79–97 and '' ...

represent.. not too white but diffused with blood. The quote continues to state that a statue of the time is unfinished without its "chora"—skin—or layer, applied to the statue to render it complete. The specific implications of each color chosen for the Prima Porta are unknown; assumedly red for the military and royalty.

Iconography

Portrait

The haircut is made up of divided, thick strands of hair, with a strand directly over the middle of Augustus's forehead framed by other strands over it. From the left two strands stray onto the forehead, and from the right three strands, a hairstyle first found on this statue. This hairstyle also marks the statue as being one of Augustus from comparison with his portrait on his coinage, which can also date it. This particular hairstyle is used as the first sign identifying this portrait type of Augustus as the Prima Porta type, the second and most popular of three official portrait types: other hairstyles of Augustus may be seen on the

Ara Pacis The (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to ) is an altar in Rome dedicated to the Pax Romana. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hisp ...

, for example. Another full-size statue of Augustus with these "Primaporta type" features is the Augustus of Via Labicana, portraying Augustus in the role of Pontifex Maximus, now in the

Museo Nazionale Romano The National Roman Museum (Italian: ''Museo Nazionale Romano'') is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological ...

. The face is idealized, but not like those of

' statues. Augustus's face is not smoothed and shows details to indicate his individual features. Art underwent important changes during Augustus's reign, with the extreme realism that dominated art of the Republican era giving way to Greek influence, as seen in the portraits of the emperors – idealizations that summarized all the virtues Roman society held should be possessed by the exceptional man worthy of governing the Empire. In earlier portraits, Augustus allowed himself to be portrayed in monarchical fashion, but amended these with later more diplomatic images that represented him as "

primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...

". The head and neck were produced separately in

Parian marble Parian marble is a fine-grained, semi translucent, and pure-white marble quarried during the classical antiquity, classical era on the Greece, Greek List of islands of Greece, island of Paros in the Aegean Sea. A subtype, referred to as Parian ' ...

and inserted to the torso.

Breastplate relief

The statue's iconography is frequently compared to that of the '' carmen saeculare'' by

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, and commemorates Augustus's establishment of the Pax Romana. The

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. European In medieval weaponry, the breastplate is the front portion of plate armour covering th ...

is carved in relief with numerous small figures depicting the return, thanks to the diplomacy of Augustus, of the Roman legionary eagles or '' aquilae'' lost to

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

in the 40s BC and by Crassus in 53 BC. The figure in the centre, according to the most common interpretation, is the subjected Parthian king (

Phraates IV Phraates IV (also spelled Frahad IV; ''Frahāt'') was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 37 to 2 BC. He was the son and successor of Orodes II (), and was given the throne after the death of his brother Pacorus I. Phraates IV soon mur ...

) returning Crassus's standard to an armored Roman (possibly

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, or symbolically Mars Ultor or the incarnation of the ideal legionary). Another theory sees in the male figure the ideal incarnation of the Roman legions. This was a very popular subject in Augustan propaganda, as one of his greatest international successes, and had to be especially strongly emphasized, since Augustus had been deterred by Parthian military strength from the war which the Roman people had expected and had instead opted for diplomacy. Below the armed figure we can see a dog, or probably a wolf or, according to archaeologist Ascanio Modena Altieri, a she-wolf, nurse of

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...

. To the left and right sit mourning female figures; the figure on the one side with a sheathed sword personifies the peoples in the East (and possibly the Teutons) forced to pay tribute to Rome, and the one on the other side with an unsheathed sword personifies the subjected peoples (the Celts). From the top, clockwise, we see: *

Caelus Caelus or Coelus (; ) was a primordial List of Roman deities, god of the sky in Roman mythology and Religion in ancient Rome, theology, Roman art, iconography, and Latin literature, literature (compare 'sky', 'heaven', whence English ''celestia ...

, the sky god, spreading the tent of the sky *

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

and

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

* the personification of the subjected peoples * the goddess Diana * the earth goddess Ceres/ Tellus—similarly represented on the Ara Pacis * Apollo, Augustus's patron * the personification of the tributary peoples * the sun god Sol * a Sphinx on each shoulder, representing the defeat of

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

by Augustus The

is not solely frontal; there is a backside to the armor as well. On the bottom right side of the back of the cuirass, there is a helmeted trophy with a wing above, a carnyx on the left hip, and greaves against a tree trunk. There was an iron peg that is thought to have connected the statue to a wall. This is likely due to the back being unfinished None of these interpretations are undisputed. The gods, however, probably all symbolize the continuity and logical consistency of the events—just as the sun and moon forever rise, so Roman successes are certain and divinely sanctioned. Furthermore, these successes are connected with the wearer of this breastplate, Augustus. The only active person is the Parthian king, implying that everything else is divinely desired and ordained.

Divine status

During his lifetime, Augustus did not wish to be depicted as a god (unlike the later emperors who embraced divinity), but this statue has many thinly-veiled references to the emperor's "divine nature", his ''

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

''. Augustus is shown barefoot, which indicates that he is a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

and perhaps even a divus, and also adds a civilian aspect to an otherwise military portrait. Being barefoot was only previously allowed on images of the gods, but it may also imply that the statue is a posthumous copy set up by Livia of a statue from the city of Rome in which Augustus was ''not'' barefoot. The small

(son of Venus) at his feet (riding on a dolphin, Venus's patron animal) is a reference to the claim that the Julian family were descended from the goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, made by both Augustus and by his great uncle

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

—a way of claiming divine lineage without claiming the full divine status. Janson, H.W. (1995) ''History of Art''. 5th edn. Revised and expanded by Anthony F. Janson. London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, p. 191. The dolphin which Cupid rides has a political significance. It suggests that Augustus has won the battle of Actium and defeated one of his primary rivals, Mark Antony.

Type

The Prima Porta-type of statues of Augustus, of which ''Augustus of Prima Porta'' is the most famous example, became the prevailing representational style for him. This type was introduced around 27 BC to visually express the title ''

'' and was copied full-length and in busts in various versions throughout the empire up until his death in AD 14. The copies never showed Augustus looking older, however, but represented him as forever young, in line with the aims of his propaganda, i.e. to display the authority of the Roman emperors through conventional styles and stories of the culture. At its best, in Roland R. R. Smith's view, this "type achieves a sort fvisual paradox that might be described as mature, ageless, and authoritative youthfulness".

Discovery

Ritrovamento della statue di cesare augusto a prima porta - Le scienze e le arti sotto il pontificato di Pio IX bw

The statue of Augustus of Prima Porta was discovered within the Villa of Livia in 1863. Little is known about the discovery itself and its immediate aftermath, as the incomplete archaeological journals leave ambiguous evidence for modern historians. The statue was first publicized by the German archeologist Wilhelm Henzen in 1863 the . The exact location of the statue within the villa is unknown. Suggested sites are the underground complex, a placement near a staircase, the villa's atrium, or in a laurel grove on the southeast corner of Prima Porta hill. Scholars have stated that the last one is relatively unconvincing compared with the first three. The theory that Augustus's statue was found in the underground complex of the villa is based on a hypothesis that Augustus holds a laurel branch instead of a spear in his left hand. Scholars have noted that if this hypothesis is correct, then Villa of Livia must have been decorated with laurel groves and that the reason of the decoration is the omen of the ''gallina alba'' (Latin: white hen). Recent excavations have discovered the remnants of pots used to plant laurel on the edge of the Prima Porta hill in front of the underground complex, which Reeder believes suggests the possibility of the existence of laurel groves in the villa and makes it likely that the statue was located in the underground complex. She rationalized this by stating that per Suetonius, Augustus had a fear of lightning and often hid in 'an underground vaulted room', which she theorizes was likely the underground complex, particularly as during the time of Augustus laurels were thought to provide protection from lightning. Scholars who disagree with the theory have argued that although the pot remnants could have been used to plant laurel, such pots were also used for other plants such as lemons. They also state that according to an 1891 drawing made 25 years after the first excavation, Prima Porta Augustus was found at the bottom of the staircase leading to the underground complex, not the complex itself. Alan Klynne and Peter Liljenstolpe have further noted that the statue could have been brought to the basement from another location such as the atrium, where it would have stood on a rectangular structure that stands right on the axis against the south wall of the atrium. As visitors would enter the atrium from the ''fauces'' at the northeastern corner, the statue would be the first thing that they would see and that they would view it from the left, which fits Kähler's idea that it should be seen from this position. When the visitor walked across the atrium their eyes would meet with Augustus's right hand, thus "receiving" the address that Augustus made. The story of the ''gallina alba'' (White hen} narrates that after Livia married Octavian an eagle dropped a hen holding laurel seeds in its beak onto Livia's lap, which the religious authorities of Rome took as a sign of blessing and divinity. The plant was ordered to be planted with great religious care at what is now known as the villa surbana, where it grew into a grove. According to Jane Clark Reeder, when Julio-Claudians had military success they would take a laurel branch from the villa.

References

Sources

External links

3D model of Primaporta-type head of Augustus via photogrammetric survey of a plaster cast of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek's marble

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20190608165627/http://viamus.uni-goettingen.de/mmdb/Institut/smallView?Abguss.Inventarnummer:record=A+484 Description on VIAMUS
Catalogue record on VIAMUS

360 degree computer reconstruction
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Augustus Of Prima Porta 1st-century Roman sculptures 1863 archaeological discoveries Augustus in ancient Roman sculpture Archaeological discoveries in Italy Marble sculptures in Italy Sculptures in the Vatican Museums Sculptures of Cupid Statues of men Sculptures of dolphins