A Roman Marble Portrait of the Emperor Nero

Circa 1st Century A.D.

Height 6 inches.

Property from a Midwest Private Collection

Provenance:

Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 11 December 2009, Lot 151.

Note:

Known as the fifth and final ruler of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, Emperor Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was born December 15th, 37 A.D. He succeeded his uncle Claudius as Emperor in 54 A.D. Close study of Nero's portraiture on coins, and in sculptured replicas, reveals the creation of five separate portrait types. The facial hair and hairstyle suggest that this portrait was one of the later portrait types. For more on Nero's portrait types, see D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Yale, 1994, p. 135-139.

Height with stand 11 1/2 inches.

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Mr. Coley joined the Antiquities department in 2021 after working as Managing Director in the Ancient Art department at Colnaghi, the world’s oldest commercial art gallery, where he helped to establish the Ancient Art department and launched Colnaghi New York in 2017. Prior to Colnaghi, Mr. Coley was in the Greek and Roman Art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Coley holds a B.A. from the University of Miami and an M.A. in Art Market from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and he earned an art-appraisal certificate from New York University.

Antiquities & Ancient Art

A Roman Marble Portrait of the Emperor Nero

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