Head of a Praetorian Guard

Roman art
Date
Mid 2nd century A.D.
Collection
Technique
Marble
Size
33 cm (height)
Inventory
1914 n. 418

This fragment, standing 33 cm high, is one of the oldest pieces in the Medici collection, to which it already belonged in the mid-16th century. It shows the head of a Praetorian Guard carved in profile, sporting an elegant parade helmet originally adorned with metal studs, the holes for which are still visible. The fragment was once the corner of a large continuous frieze as we can tell from the old cut in the marble on the right, and probably came from a celebratory monument depicting an official ceremony as the laurel wreath adorning the Praetorian’s helmet would appear to suggest. The modelling and the carving of the pupil point to a date in the middle years of the Antonine era.

 

3D model in collaboration with Indiana University. Visit: https://www.digitalsculpture-uffizi.org/