Portrait of a woman, formerly believed to be Livia, wife of Augustus (Licinia, daughter of Crassus Frugi?)
Plaster cast. Original: reign of Claudius (41—54 CE). Inv. No. MCR 270.Rome, Museum of Roman CivilizationPhoto by Olga Lyubimova

Portrait of a woman, formerly believed to be Livia, wife of Augustus (Licinia, daughter of Crassus Frugi?)

Plaster cast. Original: reign of Claudius (41—54 CE).
Inv. No. MCR 270.

Rome, Museum of Roman Civilization
(Roma, Museo della civiltà romana).

Copenhagen, New Carlsberg Glyptotek.
Origin:
Probably the Licinii family tomb. Original: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Inv. No. 747.
Description:
p.107 Copenhagen 747 (fig. 41), a striking female head of Parian marble that Moltesen believes was part of a statue, is another of the portraits for which Helbig claimed a provenance of the first chamber238. W. Trillmich, who recently studied the portraits from the Licinian tomb at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, observed that this portrait appeared considerably earlier in terms of its style than the female portrait here identified as Scribonia (fig. 37). Polaschek dated the hairstyle of Copenhagen 747 to the Caligulan era239. Boschung suggested an earlier date in the Tiberian period on the basis of the treatment of the facial features240. Boschung’s Tiberian dating appears most convincing when one compares this head’s facial treatment with other Julio-Claudian portraits in the same gallery of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. In particular, the wide shape of her lower face and the proportions and flatness of her features resemble portraits of p.108 Germanicus and Tiberius241. The curls flanking her face are similar in treatment, as are the facial features, to a portrait in Naples that has been dated to A.D. 0—30242.

There is one remote possibility for the identity of Copenhagen 747. She may depict Licinia Crassi, whose name appeared on a now lost altar with a damaged inscription that was found in the first chamber (fig. 42)243. Geza Alföldy proposed that Licinia Crassi was a daughter of Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi244. W. Altmann, who saw and photographed the altar while it was still in the garden of the Maraini house, assigned it to the Tiberian era, a dating that would be consistent with Boschung’s chronology for the style of Copenhagen 747245. But Alföldy estimated that Licinia Crassi died at a young age, when she was between eight and ten years old246; only the Roman numeral “X” for “ten” was visible at the end of the line that gave her age at death247. If Alföldy’s estimate of Licinia Crassi’s age is accurate, Copenhagen 747 could not depict her since the portrait seems to depict someone older. Yet, given our inability to study the lost altar and its fragmentary condition, other p.109 estimations of Licinia Crassi’s age at death seem possible, and these might be consistent with the age of figure 41.


238Moltesen, in Kragelund, Moltesen, and Østergaard 2003, 85. For discussions of the stable isotope analyses of the three parts of Copenhagen 747, two of which have now been removed, see Moltesen 1988, 434—436; Herz 1990, 107—108; Moltesen 1991, 274—278.

239Polaschek 1972, 173 and 171 fig. 9.7 (a drawing of the hairstyle of Copenhagen 747).

240Boschung 1986, 271.

241For the portrait of Germanicus, I.N. 760, see Johansen 1994—1995, 1:128—129. For the portrait of Tiberius, I.N. 1445, see Johansen 1994—1995, 1:114—115.

242Bonifacio 1997, 125—127, pl. 52. The hairstyle of Copenhagen 747 seems to be derived from that of Agrippina the Elder. For statues of her from the Tiberian and Caligulan eras, see Wood 1988, 411; Rose 1997, 66, 121—126, 182—184, pls. 133, 141—142, and 224; and Boschung 2002, 8—11, 25—35, pls. 6.2, 7.2, 16.2, and 18.2. Emily Kirksey, University of Georgia graduate student, assisted in the research on portraits of Agrippina the Elder.

243CIL 6.31727; CIL 6.41071 (p. 4908); Kragelund, Moltesen, and Østergaard 2003, 109—110 cat. 4, fig. 38.

244CIL 6 chart (p. 4778).

245Altmann 1905, 41 no. 6, fig. 27. Boschung’s later dating of the altar, to the Claudian or early Neronian period (Boschung 1987, 25, 58, and 102 no. 745) seems incorrect, considering the altar’s low relief and plain decoration. For comparable Tiberian altars, see Boschung 1987, nos. 638, 743, 767, and 768; Giuliano 1984, 86—87. Emily Kirksey found these comparable altars.

246CIL 6 chart (p. 4778).

247CIL 6.41071 (p. 4908), with a drawing of the inscription.

F. Van Keuren et al.
Literature:
Bernoulli J. J. Römische Ikonographie. Bd. II. Die Bildnisse der römischen Kaiser und ihrer Angehörigen 1. Das julisch-claudische Kaiserhaus. Berlin, 1886. Ill. 21.
West R. Römische Porträt-Plastik. Bd. I. München ,1934. Ill. 31. 130.
Griechische und römische Porträts / Hrsg. P. Arndt — F. Bruckmann. München, 1891—1942. №. 6.
Poulsen F. Catalogue of Ancient Sculpture in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Kopenhagen, 1951. Cat. no. 614.
Poulsen V. Les Portraits Romains. Vol. I. Kopenhagen, 1962. P. 74 Cat. no. 39. Pl. 64, 65.
Bartels H. Studien zum Frauenporträt der augusteischen Zeit. Fulvia, Octavia, Livia, Julia. München, 1963. S. 42, Anm. 336.
Boschung D. Überlegungen zum Liciniergrab // Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Bd. 101. 1986. S. 271.
Verzeichnis der Gipsabgüsse des Archäologischen Instituts der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen — Bestand 1767—1989. Göttingen, 1990 / Hrsg. K. Fittschen. S. 203, A 1042. W.

Johansen F. Catalogue Roman Portraits. Vol. I. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Kopenhagen, 1994. P. 104—105. Cat. no. 40.
Kragelund P., Moltesen M., Østergaard J. S. The Licinian Tomb: Fact or Fiction? Copenhagen, 2003. P. 85.
Van Keuren F. Trillmich W., Trillmich C., Ghezzi A., Anderson J. Ch. Unpublished Documents Shed New Light on the Licinian Tomb, Discovered in 1884—1885, Rome // MAAR. Vol. 48. 2003. P. 107—109.
Credits:
(сс) 2009. Photo: Olga Lyubimova (CC BY-SA 4.0).
© Text: museum label.
© 2003. Description: Van Keuren F. Trillmich W., Trillmich C., Ghezzi A., Anderson J. Ch. Unpublished Documents Shed New Light on the Licinian Tomb, Discovered in 1884—1885, Rome // MAAR. Vol. 48. 2003. P. 107—109.
Keywords: αυτοκρατορικό imperial imperiale kaiserliches impérial ιουλιο-κλαυδιανή δυναστεία iulio-claudia iulii-claudii julii-claudii the julio-claudian dynasty dinastia giulio-claudia julisch-claudische dynastie famille julio-claudienne julio-claudiens ρωμαϊκή αυτοκράτειρα λιβία δρουσίλλα ιουλία αυγούστα livia drusilla iulia augusta re37 roman empress julia imperatrice romana giulia römische kaiserin impératrice romaine livie απεικόνιση portrait portraiture ritratto ritrattistica porträtmalerei porträt römisches romain plaster cast calco livia as salus female head testa femminile of romana livia g132 licinii licinia crassi from licinian tomb female hairstyle acconciatura femminile lady noble woman inv no mcr 270