Rare statue of Roman emperor found

[Primus Pilus]

Italian police have recovered a rare statue of a Roman emperor who co-ruled alongside Marcus Aurelius and was known for his reluctance to sit for portraits.

 

Police said Friday that the marble head of Lucius Verus was the most spectacular find among more than a dozen looted ancient artifacts hidden in a boat garage near Rome...

 

The State

[Nephele]

"In a separate operation, Italy recovered a marble head depicting Faustina, the wife of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, the predecessor and adoptive father of Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius

 

"Faustina's portrait had been stolen in 1961 from an ancient theater in Minturno, south of Rome, and made its way to an American collector. The statue was returned by the collector through U.S. authorities after he realized it had been looted, Rossi said."

 

I wonder who was that American collector who returned the stolen statue? I remember reading awhile back about how Steven Spielberg had discovered that a Norman Rockwell painting ("Russian Schoolroom") in his collection had been stolen (when he accessed a database on stolen art), and how he voluntarily returned the Rockwell painting to the museum from which it had been stolen, even though he had paid nearly a quarter of a million dollars for it.

 

Considering the fact that a lot of stolen art is obviously peddled to the wealthy and powerful who can afford to purchase these pieces, it's heartening to know that there are billionaires who choose to do the right thing.

 

-- Nephele

[M. Porcius Cato]

Isn't this portrait of Lucius Verus just another copy of the original we've seen copied before?

[Nephele]

Isn't this portrait of Lucius Verus just another copy of the original we've seen copied before?

 

I'm having difficulty telling. I compared this one with a few images found online and, while they all appear to have pretty much the same bearded features, the eyes seem different on this one.

 

-- Nephele

[M. Porcius Cato]

Isn't this portrait of Lucius Verus just another copy of the original we've seen copied before?

I'm having difficulty telling. I compared this one with a few images found online and, while they all appear to have pretty much the same bearded features, the eyes seem different on this one.

 

Wish we had a resident art history expert, but I think that's consistent with the idea that all the surviving Lucius Verus portraits were marble copies of the same bronze original. Because the bronze original would have had hollow eyes, the copyist would have had to improvise to drill pupils into the marble. (I think that earlier copyists didn't even bother with the drill--thus, not only are there no drilled pupils, but even the hair is rendered as shallower and thus looking less full and luxurious.)

[Melvadius]

Isn't this portrait of Lucius Verus just another copy of the original we've seen copied before?

I'm having difficulty telling. I compared this one with a few images found online and, while they all appear to have pretty much the same bearded features, the eyes seem different on this one.

 

Wish we had a resident art history expert, but I think that's consistent with the idea that all the surviving Lucius Verus portraits were marble copies of the same bronze original. Because the bronze original would have had hollow eyes, the copyist would have had to improvise to drill pupils into the marble. (I think that earlier copyists didn't even bother with the drill--thus, not only are there no drilled pupils, but even the hair is rendered as shallower and thus looking less full and luxurious.)

 

I lay no claims to expertise in the field of art but there is another 'claimed' bust of Lucius Verus in the Bardo which to my eyes seems to have similar characteristics to the recovered bust c/f:

 

http://www.africamie.com/tun_photos/bardo19.jpg