Museum collection · Cleveland Museum of Art · 1929.998
Portrait Head of Emperor Vespasian, Recut from Head of Nero
Unknown maker, 64–79 CE
Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · Public domain
- Artist
- Unknown maker
- Date
- 64–79 CE
- Medium
- marble
- Dimensions
- Overall: 40 x 21.6 x 24.9 cm (15 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 9 13/16 in.)
- Era
- Museum collection
Why it matters
Although this portrait head was designed to fit into a statue of a body, it did not originally belong with the togate body that held it when purchased by the museum in 1929. In 1973, the two were separated, and the body is now in storage. The head itself was recarved in antiquity, from a likeness of Nero to one of Vespasian, following the damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory) of the former. A line at the back of head shows clearly where the long hair of Nero has been shortened, while other Neronian features, such as a receding lower lip, remain.