Mainz marble head

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The Mainz marble head is a life-size marble head exhibited in the Landesmuseum Mainz (inventory number 61/92) , which was found in 1961 during excavation work in Mainz . The high-quality handcrafted find was dated to the early 1st century and was initially interpreted as a portrait of the young Augustus . According to current knowledge, however, one assumes a portrait of one of the two Julio-Claudian princes Gaius Caesar or Lucius Caesar .

Due to the inexactly documented circumstances of the find and the lack of context, doubts quickly arose as to the general authenticity of the find and its age. Well-known critics were the Mainzer Classical Archaeologists German Hafner and Frank Brommer . Proponents of dating back to the early Roman principled era and classifying the find as an “example of highly developed sculpture in the Roman Empire” included Harald von Petrikovits , Bernard Andreae , Erika Simon and Heinz Kähler .

description

The Mainz marble head is a life-size portrait head of a young man looking slightly to the left. The head is 26.7 cm high and made of coarsely crystalline, slightly yellowish tinted marble. This most likely comes from one of the Greek islands such as Paros, Naxos, Skyros etc. and was used as "island marble" in ancient times. In the right half of the face, the area between the cheek and the ear area is darkened by metallic iron and lead deposits. A large mass of marble has remained behind the ear areas.

Find history

The marble head was found on May 12, 1961 during excavation work for a new residential building at Josefstrasse 16 in Mainz Neustadt . The head was found at a depth of about 4.40 m in a tough and almost black mass of mud. Directly above the site, 4 m below the ground level, there was a filled bomb crater from the Second World War.

The fact that only the marble coffin itself and no additional finds were uncovered, and inconsistencies in the statements of the construction workers about the find itself later led to doubts as to its authenticity as an ancient find. On the same day the marble head was brought to the antiquity museum, today the Landesmuseum Mainz, and bought for 16,500 DM.

Due to the lack of context for the find, the find was quickly discussed controversially. No additional finds from the early 1st century were made to support a reliable dating. In the immediate vicinity of the site, only Roman burial sites were known, as well as, several meters away, a Roman connecting road between the vicus “Dimesser Ort” and the vici between the legion camp and the bank of the Rhine. The next proven Roman settlement sites are several hundred meters away from the site. Critics of the dating of Mogontiacum to the early Roman period saw the find as a product of the early modern era, for example from a sculptor's workshop that used to be there, or suspected it was an intentional fake for the upcoming (too early) 2000 year celebration of the city of Mainz . Karl Heinz Esser commented in detail on the first hypothesis in an article on the find situation.

Material science report

Since the controversy about the authenticity and dating of the Mainz marble head continued, Edgar Denninger, scientific teacher for materials science at the Institute for Painting Technology at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, was commissioned by the Mainz State Museum to provide an expert opinion on materials. Denninger examined the find using methods of microanalysis and microscopy . He found sintering of lime in various places , which by growing into the material has entered into a direct connection with the marble. The blackish discoloration in the right head area turned out to be deposits of iron and lead or their compounds, which could be due to the effects of bomb fragments from the bomb crater directly above the site. He was also able to identify the material as Greek island marble. Denninger concluded from the above-mentioned evidence that it is very likely that the find had already reached the ground in ancient times.

literature

  • Erika Simon : The newly found portrait of Gaius Caesar in Mainz . In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 58, 1963, pp. 1-18. 26th
  • Karl Heinz Esser: The find situation of the Roman marble head. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 58, 1963, pp. 19-25.
  • Frank Brommer : On the Augustus head of Mainz . Mainz 1964.
  • Karl Heinz Esser: On Frank Brommer's criticism of the “find situation of the Roman marble head”. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 59, 1964, pp. 47–53.
  • Edgar Denninger: Material analysis of the Roman marble head in the ancient museum of the city of Mainz. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 59, 1964, pp. 44–46.
  • Erika Simon: The Mainz head after 15 years . In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 71/72, 1976/77, pp. 101-109.
  • Wolfgang Selzer : Roman stone monuments. Mainz in Roman times. Catalog for the collection in the Steinhalle. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-8053-0993-7 , p. 86ff.
  • Hans G. Frenz : The Mainz "Augustus", 30 years of scholars' dispute . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 39, 2, 1992, pp. 615–702.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Heinz Esser: The find situation of the Roman marble head. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 58, 1963, pp. 19-25.
  2. ^ Rolf E. Straub: Edgar Denninger † . In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg Vol. 13 No. 4, 1984, p. 279. ( digitized version ).
  3. ↑ Edgar Denninger: Material analysis of the Roman marble head in the antiquity museum of the city of Mainz. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 59, 1964, pp. 44–46.