Green Caesar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Berlin Green Caesar

The Green Caesar is a bust of Gaius Iulius Caesar made of green slate in the Berlin Antikensammlung , inventory number Sk 342. It was probably made in the first century AD.

description

The bust is 41 centimeters high, making it larger than life. Note the marked age features: the receding hairline (the so-called receding hairline ), forehead and nose wrinkles, sunken cheeks slightly wrinkled, deep nasolabial folds and crow's feet to the eyes. The folds on the neck result from turning the head to the right.

The face is long, narrow and angular, shows pronounced cheekbones and a high forehead. The chin protrudes very strongly. The long, straight nose, the light Adam's apple and a narrow-lipped mouth convey the impression of leanness. The short hair, layered in sickle curls, was combed forward by the vertebra at the back of the head, but not plastically separated from the head, but rather scratched. This reinforces the impression of thinning hair and a lean head. The head is largely preserved.

Smaller modern additions can be found on the hems of the right side of the tunic and toga . A missing spot on the right ear was also initially replaced, but is now back in a fragmented state. Like the base, the marble eye inlays are modern additions.

classification

Current installation next to the portrait of Cleopatra.

There is broad agreement that the person depicted is the Roman politician Gaius Iulius Caesar, who lived in the second third of the 1st century BC. Was one of the most important figures at the end of the Roman Republic . From his lifetime, only portraits on coins are known that are definitely less idealized and show even more physiognomic abnormalities. They are entirely in the republican tradition. All known sculptural portraits were created after his death.

The Green Caesar joins a group of late Republican portraits that appear very individual to the modern viewer, but do not reflect individual, but ideal-typical features. These representations represent values ​​and qualities that were expected of a statesman at the time, and reproduce standardized forms and standardized formulas. The age features show authority (auctoritas), look and mouth seriousness and severity (gravitas and severitas) as well as the turning of the head energy and energy.

The viewer sees a serious and dignified man who is fully aware of his office and the associated duties, but also of his claim to power. The ascetic, sober form of representation reflects the sobriety and deprivation ability of a successful general, even if the clothing alludes not to the warrior but to the statesman. The execution of the portrait is exceptionally good. Possibly because of the unusual material and the associated different point of view than on the otherwise usual marble, a "classicist calming" was repeatedly stated in the portrait.

The exact circumstances of the creation of the portrait are unclear. Some archaeologists put them back in the 1st century BC. However, the majority assume that it originated in the early imperial period in the 1st century AD. It was probably made in Egypt, at least the green slate came from Upper Egypt . The engraved, non-sculptural hair was also borrowed from late Egyptian art, as was the wide arching, taut contour of the skull.

Provenance history

The bust was probably installed in Rome and was also rediscovered there. It then came to France and was purchased in 1767 for Frederick II of Prussia from the collection of Jean de Jullienne in Paris. Along with other antiques from the royal property, it was added to the collection of antiquities at the end of the 1820s. There the portrait found its current display in the Altes Museum in 2010 . It is shown in the immediate vicinity of the portrait of Cleopatra .

literature

  • Max Kunze : Portrait of Gaius Julius Caesar. In: The antique collection in the Pergamon Museum and in Charlottenburg. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1992, ISBN 3-8053-1187-7 , pp. 203-204.
  • Dagmar Grassinger : "Green Caesar". In: State Museums in Berlin. The antique collection. Old museum. Pergamon Museum. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-2449-6 , pp. 120-121.
  • Michael Siebler : Roman Art. Taschen, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-5451-8 , pp. 36–37.
  • Model for Frederick the Great - the "Green Caesar". In: Olivia Zorn and Christina Hanus (editors): The Museum Island. History and stories. Elsengold, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-96201-016-4 , pp. 26-27.

Web links

Commons : Green Caesar  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files