The Eight Faces of Hadrian in Tivoli FOLLOWING HADRIAN

Earlier this year, the Mouseia of Villa Adriana hosted an exhibition dedicated to the portraits of Emperor Hadrian. Titled “Io Sono Una Forza Del Passato: Adriano, i ritratti” (“I Am a Force of the Past: Hadrian’s Portraits”), this exhibition presented, for the first time, all forms of Hadrian’s portrayal. It featured nine portraits of Hadrian and two of Sabina, made possible by significant loans from the Capitoline Museums and the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

The Hadrian exhibition marked the second chapter of a journey that began with the “Antinoo Disparu: Memorie di un Desiderio” exhibition dedicated to Antinous. Together, these shows served as a dual tribute to two great intellectual figures, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Marcel Proust, as 2022 marked the centenary of Pasolini’s birth and the centenary of Proust’s death. Both writers share a connection with Marguerite Yourcenar in their exploration of memory and the historical significance of ruins.

The scientific project was conceived and curated by Andrea Bruciati, the director of VillÆ. He summarizes the concept of the exhibition by stating, “In a game of mirrors, the emperor’s portrait, as a ‘force of the Past,’ allows us to critically examine and update the role of the plastic representation of power.”

I am a force of the Past.
My love lies only in tradition.
I come from the ruins, the churches,
the altarpieces, the villages
abandoned in the Appennines or foothills
of the Alps where my brothers once lived.
I wander like a madman down the Tuscolana,
down the Appia like a dog without a master.

From The Selected Poetry of Pier Paolo Pasolini, edited and translated by Stephen Sartarelli. Published by University Of Chicago Press. Translation copyright © 2014 by Stephen Sartarelli.

Hadrian was particularly concerned about his image. During his reign, he commissioned as many as eight official portraits of himself, more than Augustus, who had only five, and significantly more than his successor, Antoninus Pius, who authorised only two effigies despite ruling longer than Hadrian. To date, approximately 160 sculpted portraits of Hadrian have been discovered, spread over the time and regions of his reign. The only emperor with more surviving portraits is Augustus, with around 211, created during a reign that lasted more than twice as long as Hadrian’s. Recent estimates suggest that the total number of statue bases for Hadrian is 418 (Højte, 2005). Following recent discoveries, additional bases should be included in this count, such as a statue base (or altar?) from Blaundos (see here).

Official portraits of Roman emperors and members of the imperial family are typically not unique creations. Instead, they are categorised into groups that are thought to exhibit similar characteristics associated with the individual’s iconography, such as age, hairstyle, and facial features. These groups, known as portrait “types,” are derived from copies of a common model. The prototypes (“Urbild”) originated in Rome and were circulated throughout the empire, ensuring an official and standardised image of the emperor in every major urban centre. They are generally believed to have been created to commemorate significant events in the emperor’s life, such as winning a war, acquiring a new title, or celebrating a decennalia (10th anniversary). As a result, these prototypes can be arranged in chronological order.

Max Wegner, a German classical archaeologist, established the typology of Hadrian’s portraiture in 1956. He identified six distinctive portrait types that represent the emperor, each named after the findspot or the location of the best-preserved example. Klaus Fittschen later added a seventh type in 1984. The emperor is always depicted with a moustache, a short beard that covers his cheeks, chin, and jawline, and a wavy hairstyle. The main differences lie in the arrangement of hair locks above the forehead and at the temples (known as “lock scheme”).

1. 

   Stazione Termini

2. Vaticano Chiaramonti 392
3. Rolllockenfrisur
4. Tarragona (added by Klaus Fittschen in 1984)
5. Panzer-Paludamentumbüste Baiae
6. Imperatori 32
7. Vaticano Busti 283

However, scholars have noted that some representations of Hadrian do not conform to a single type but instead combine features from two of the Emperor’s officially authorised images. Cécile Evers has addressed this iconographic overlap between the types (or “Klitterungen”) in her work on the portraits of Hadrian (Evers, 1994), offering a chronological explanation for these blended images. She proposes that they were “transitional types”, indicating that the sculptors were retaining aspects of an old type while incorporating certain traits from a new one.

In addition, provincial imperial portraits sometimes did not closely resemble the official, canonical images of rulers made in Rome. Although the artists in the provinces would have had ready access to portraits of the emperor, some portraits differed from the standardised types of Hadrian’s official images. Paul Zanker’s work on provincial imperial portraiture has shown that some portraits of Hadrian do not conform to his official prototypes. However, like Fittschen and Evers, he ultimately associates them with a specific portrait type by calling them a “variant”. However, the exhibition only presented portraits from Italy based on prototypes.

During the last fifty years, an intense scholarly debate has arisen over whether an eighth portrait type of Hadrian should be added, the ‘Delta Omicron’ type (also known as ‘Renatus’). Cécile Evers, for example, dismisses it completely. This group of portraits deviates dramatically from traditional images of Hadrian, showing the Emperor in his late teens or early twenties. He is depicted with a youthful face, a thin moustache, a beard that covers the line of the jaw and extends over the upper neck, thick hair, and intertwining curls. One of the best-known examples of this type is a head excavated in 1954 in the Canopus at Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli, now on view in the Villa Adriana. Other notable pieces include a head in the Museo del Prado in Madrid (see here) and a bust in the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri, Columbia (see here).

Connected to this portrait type is a series of aurei struck in AD 129–130 and again 136, bearing a portrait of a more youthful Hadrian with the same neckbeard found on the Tivoli, Madrid and Columbia portraits. Strack named this juvenile portrait type in his coin classification ‘Delta Omikron’ (Struck 1933). The question that continues to puzzle scholars is why portraits of this type differ so significantly from the standardised official imagery of Hadrian and why such a young portrait of him was used so late in his life. Recently, Stephan Schroder has suggested that this type of portrait represents Hadrian as a youthful hero, proposing that Romulus is a likely candidate for this representation.

The Columbia bust, however, resembles statues of Diomedes, the legendary hero who stole the Palladium from Troy and ensured a Greek victory. The drapery at the base of the left side of the neck is part of a chlamys, which covers the left shoulder, similar to the one on the Munich Diomedes (see here). The exhibition linked it to the Emperor’s idealised rebirth and initiation into the highest level of the Eleusinian Mysteries in AD 128. According to Andreas Pangerl, this portrait type originated early in Hadrian’s life, well before he became emperor. 

Over 150 ancient depictions of Hadrian are currently known and catalogued in accordance with Max Wegner’s classification. Hadrian’s Villa currently holds only two sculptures of the Emperor. One of them, originally larger than life-size but now in fragments, is comparable to the Vatican’s Chiaramonti 392 and belong to the first period of his reign. The other sculpture was found in 1954 in the Canopus-Serapeum complex and belongs to the Delta Omikron type.

1. ‘Stazione Termini’

Created in AD 117 (between 11 August and 10 December) and attested by 23 examples, Hadrian is depicted as a young man in these portraits. At the time of his proclamation, the Emperor was in Syria. For his first official image, the Senate likely based the model on earlier representations of Hadrian from when he was still a private citizen. This could explain the youthful appearance found in some of these portraits. The hairstyle includes ten large front locks with ends directed towards the middle of the forehead.

2. ‘Vaticano Chiaramonti 392’

Created after Hadrian returned to Rome in July AD 118. It is attested by 30 examples found in the western provinces, including Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and Africa. The fringe framing the face also consists of ten curls not facing towards the centre of the forehead. The beard is more intricate and has more curls than the Stazione Termini type. The colossal head of Hadrian found in 2007 in Sagalassos belongs to this type (see here).

3. ‘Rollockenfrisur’

Created in AD 119, likely at the beginning of Hadrian’s third consulship, with 31 copies. Hadrian is depicted as a mature man with wrinkles, and nine voluminous curls frame his face, curled anti-clockwise. This type is easy to recognise. The most recent copy was discovered at the archaeological site of Los Torrejones in Spain (see here).

4. ‘Tarragona’

Created between AD 119 and 125, during Hadrian’s first journey. There are only six known copies, two from Spain, where Hadrian stayed around AD 122/123. The mature face portrayed has a dozen curls on the forehead and three near the left ear. The eyes are slightly incised.

5. ‘Panzer-Paludamentumbüste Baiae’

Likely created to commemorate Hadrian’s return to Rome in AD 125. There are 27 existing portraits of this type, with the majority, 19 in total, originating from Italy. In these portraits, the head is typically turned to the left, with only one exception. The Emperor is depicted wearing a cuirass and a cloak. His face shows no visible signs of age, and his forehead is adorned with approximately a dozen small locks of hair.

6. ‘Imperatori 32’

This portrait type was created in AD 128 to commemorate the adoption of the title of Olympios in Athens and Pater Patriae or to celebrate his decennalia in AD 127. It was widely distributed, with over 30 known copies. The head, slightly raised, is turned to the right, and several examples have incised eyes and the aspect of a mature man. The two profiles are determining factors in the recognition of this type. On the left, a double row of curls, and on the right, a voluminous lock of hair above the ear.

7. ‘Vaticano Busti 283’

This portrait type appeared in AD 137, commemorating the 20th anniversary of his reign. Only eight examples of this portrait type are known, as Hadrian passed away a year later in July 138. In these portraits, the face is turned to the left and framed by a dozen locks of hair. The eyes have hollowed pupils and an incised iris.

8. ‘Delta Omicron’

This type of portrait depicts a youthful image of Emperor Hadrian. He is characterised by thick hair, sideburns, a beard beneath his chin, and a slight hint of a moustache on his upper lip. Although some experts disagree with this identification, it primarily relies on comparisons with coins dated from AD 128 onward.

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The exhibition also presented two fragmented portraits of Sabina from Hadrian’s Villa and hair fragments comparable to Antinous’s portraits. The images of the Empress, found on coins and sculptures, display a unique variety of hairstyles. Based on these distinctive hairstyles, around 40 surviving portraits have been categorised into different types (four or possibly five). Sabina is sometimes depicted wearing an imposing diadem, a low ponytail, or a chignon adorned with a diadem. After her death, the Empress is portrayed wearing a veil.

Sources & references:

• Wegner, M. (1984). “Verzeichnis der Bildnisse von Hadrian und Sabina.” Boreas: Münstersche Beiträge zur Archäologie.
• Fittschen, K. (1984). Eine Büste des Kaisers Hadrian aus Milreu in Portugal. Zum Problem von Bildnisklitterungen. Madrider Mitteilungen, 25, 197–207.
• Zanker, P. (1983). Provinzielle Kaiser- portreits: Zur Reze’tion der Selbstdar- stellung des Princeps, Munich.
• Evers, C. (1994). Les portraits d’Hadrien. Typologie et ateliers. Académie royale de Belgique, Bruxelles.
• Højte, J.M. (2005). Roman Imperial Statue Bases: from Augustus to Commodus, Aarhus University Press.
• Riccardi, Lee. (2000). Uncanonical Imperial Portraits in the Eastern Roman Provinces: The Case of the Kanellopoulos Emperor. Hesperia.
• Strack, P. L. (1933). Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahr- hunderts, part 2: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Hadrian, Stuttgart.
• Pangerl, A. (2021). Hadrian’s First and Second Imperial Portrait Types of 117–118 AD. Jahrbuch Für Numismatik Und Geldgeschichte, 71, 171–184.
• Brennan, T. C. (2018). Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
• Amiro, F. (2021). The Portraits of the Roman Empress Sabina: A Numismatic and Sculptural Study – Dissertation, McMaster University. (link)

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