On view
Portrait of the Emperor Augustus,
ca. 27–1 BCE
More Context
Handbook Entry
Gaius Octavius, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, won the civil war that followed Caesar’s murder in 44 B.C., defeating Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. Proclaimed "Augustus" by the Senate in 27 B.C., he ruled not as emperor but as <em>princeps</em>, "first citizen," maintaining the outward forms of the old Republic but dominating public life through his control of the army and such traditional offices as Tribune and <em>Pontifex Maximus</em>. Augustus’s official portraits, of which several types have been identified, were instruments of propaganda, erected in public spaces throughout the empire; over two hundred are known, more than of any other Roman. The base of this over-life-sized head is worked into a tenon for insertion into a separately carved body representing the ruler as a statesman wearing a toga or as a soldier clad in armor. Although carved when he was advanced in years, Augustus’s face is youthful and lean, and his expression captures his power and determination.
Information
ca. 27–1 BCE
Europe, possibly Italy, Roman Empire
- Jerome M. Eisenberg, Art of the Ancient world: Volume XII, special edition with mythological guides, ancient chronologies, and themes for collecting, (New York: Royal-Athena Galleries, 2000)., cat. no. 26; p. 15 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 2000," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 60 (2001): p. 66-93., p. 85
- J. Michael Padgett, ed., Roman sculpture in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Art Museum, Princeton University, 2001)., p. 165-167; cat. no. 47
- C.C. Vermeule, "Roman Imperial persons in North America", Celator 17, no. 12 (Dec., 2003)., p. 29; p. 28 (illus.)
- C.C. Vermeule, "Faces of empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian)", Celator 19, no. 11 (Nov., 2005)., p. 25; fig. 2
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 265 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 317
