Getty Seeks Bust of Antoninus Pius
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| Portrait Bust of Emperor Antoninus Pius, about 140 AD. Auctioned as Property from the Berkeley Collection at Spetchley Park. Photo: Sotheby's |
The Getty Museum is prepared to buy a portrait of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, contingent on a British export license. Sotheby's auctioned the bust last December for £7.72 million ($9.36 million).
Newlyweds Robert Martin Berkeley and Lady Mary Catherine Berkeley bought the emperor's likeness on their Naples honeymoon in 1851. Antoninus Pius was the fourth of the "five good emperors" of the second century AD. His beard presented him as a philosopher who happened to have a side hustle as an autocrat.
The Berkeleys' souvenir is now understood to be one of the most accomplished of over a hundred surviving portraits. Larger than life, the 38-in.-high sculpture was carved from a single block of marble, perhaps including the socle as well. Nose, chin, and one eyebrow are restorations. The portrait has been kept at Spetchley Park, Worcestershire, and has never been on public view.
The Antonine period, named for this emperor's dynasty, is the apex of Roman naturalism. Three years ago, the Getty bought another well-preserved Antonine bust. It's a portrait of an unidentified man that the Denver Art Museum sold in order to focus on Western Hemisphere art. The Getty also has a full-figure statue of Antoninus' wife, Faustina the Elder.
The press release sounds reasonably optimistic about securing an export license. The British Museum owns another example of this portrait type.
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Comments
Re "Larger than life, the 38-in.-high sculpture was carved from a single block of marble, perhaps including the socle as well.": Shouldn't an x-ray resolve that question nicely?
This sounds like they hadn't done an x-ray at the time of the auction.
On the topic of marbles, NY is ecstatic right now over a new gift to the Met: an oil on marble by Francesco Salviati (1510–1563).
This, on top of the gift last year of a transformative Poussin on copper. And also the Met's purchase of Johann Liss's masterpiece, in 2020. The European Paintings Department is really cooking with gas now!
The Salviati work, a portrait of Bindo Altoviti (1491–1557), scion of the powerful Florentine banking family, was previously loaned to The Met for the 2021 exhibition The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570.
Salviati stole that show from his peers, including Bronzino, to my mind.
The painting is a gift of the Assadour O. Tavitian Trust.
[The same trust just gifted to The Frick an oil on canvas, a Portrait of a Woman, by Giovanni Battista Moroni. It’s an absolute stunner.]
https://www.metmuseum.org/press/news/2023/salviati-acquisition
I wonder how the technical sophistication of various renowned sculptors of, say, the past 50 years could have been ramped up to match the skill set of artisans of earlier generations? I also wonder how often a carver of marble (then or now) might chisel away too much and go, "D'oh! Oh crap!"
Then I think of how the ancient Egyptians managed to build the Sphinx or pyramids: No cranes, bulldozers or backhoes required. Some humans possess amazing skill in their little pinkie.