Lot 55
55
RAOUL DUFY (1877-1953)
RAOUL DUFY (1877-1953)
RAOUL DUFY (1877-1953)
A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN
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A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN

CIRCA LATE 1ST - EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details
A ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT BUST OF A MAN
CIRCA LATE 1ST - EARLY 2ND CENTURY A.D.
21 ¾ in. (55.2 cm.) high
Provenance
Baron Léon de Somzée (1837-1901), Brussels, acquired by 1897.
Collections de Somzée, J. Fievez, Brussels, 24 May 1904, lot 60.
Private collection, U.K.
Antiquities, Christie's, London, 10 July 1991, lot 201.
Ambassador Edward Elliot Elson, Norfolk, Virginia, acquired from the above.
The Property of Ambassador Edward Elliot Elson; Antiquities, Christie's, New York, 4 June 2008, lot 257.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.
Literature
A. Furtwängler, Sammlung Somzée - Antike Kunstdenkmäler, Munich, 1897, p. 43, no. 60.
J. Pollini, "Roman Marble Sculpture", in M. Merrony (ed.), Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 88, fig. 28.
'Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins Launches Virtual Interactive Museum – MACM 4D', 18 October 2016, blooloop.com (online).
R. Leung, 'From 4th-Century Greek Vases to Female Abstract Expressionism', larryslist.com (online).
Exhibited
Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, 2011 - 2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA21).

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Lot Essay


This portrait bears some resemblance to depictions of the Emperor Trajan. Note in particular the treatment of the mouth, with the receding lower lip, and the framing naso-labial folds. However, the hair is not typical for depictions of Trajan, who usually had long locks combed forward across the crown. Here, there are rows of short, curving locks, the forward row very low on the forehead. Similar hair is found on a portrait of the Emperor Nerva, Trajan's immediate predecessor, see pp. 30-31, no. 30 in Johansen, Katalog Romerske Portraetter II, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. It is possible that this portrait began as a depiction of Nerva, and was reworked during the reign of Trajan. The later restorations to the nose, chin, neck and crown make it impossible to know with certainty if Trajan was the intended subject or a private individual.

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