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Male portrait on modern herma, so-called Xenocrates

Roman Art A.D.

Date
First half of the 2st century
Collection
Sculpture
Location
Storage Rooms Uffizi
Technique
Greek marble (oldest part); Luni marble (post-antique additions)
Size
h. 45 cm; h. of the oldest part 20 cm
Inventory
1914 no. 362

In this portrait of a mature man, the forehead is crossed by deep horizontal wrinkles, while the eyebrows, which are in relief and curved towards the root of the nose, give a severe expression to the character. The narrow and sunken eyes are marked at the ends by two small wrinkles. The mouth, narrow and fleshy, is partly hidden by the long moustache with curved tips. The voluminous and wavy beard is formed by overlapping locks, divided by a very pronounced central parting from which they follow opposite directions. The hair, characterised by long, wavy locks, is combed forward over the forehead, thus hiding a bald spot. Near the left eye, two locks take a sinuous shape to form an 'S' pattern, while above the right eye, they take the opposite direction, creating a scissor pattern.

The head is ancient down to the section that connects the neck to the herma, which is modern. The lower portion of the forehead - including the entire left eyebrow - the nose, the outer edges of the ears, and three locks of hair over the neck are the result of restoration. Some locks are missing over the neck, along the back of the head, and in the lower part of the beard. The tip of the left ear lost part of its modern integration.

This portrait was first mentioned in the Galleries inventory of 1704, where it was described among the works in marble exhibited in the West Corridor . The identification with Xenocrates dates back to 1769, but it was abandoned in 1825 when the sculpture was exhibited in the Hall of Inscriptions. Mansuelli associated the work with the portrait of an unknown person close to the figure of Epicurus, of which it recalls the locks of the hair and the beard, as well as the movement of the eyebrows. For what concerns the style of the locks along the forehead and the beard, as well the frowning expression, the head preserved in the Uffizi is particularly similar to the portraits of Epicurus exhibited in Copenhagen and in the Capitoline Museums. However, the Florentine work has original elements that give the portrait an individual character, such as the converging locks at the right temple and the movement of the locks of the beard surrounding the mouth. The work was actually part of a broader trend of portraits, dating back to a period between the 2nd and 3rd century A.D., that depicted private figures with Epicurean features, of which the bust displayed in the Vatican Museums is one of the best examples along with the one in the Uffizi.

The rendering of the eyes, whose pupils are not engraved, as well as the consistent use of the drill in the working of the beard, allow to date the portrait back to the first decades of the 2nd century A.D.

Bibliography

M. Rodinò, Ritratto virile su erma moderna, cd. Senocrate in Divina Simulacra. Capolavori di scultura classica della Galleria degli Uffizi, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, 12 dicembre 2023 – 30 giugno 2024), a cura di F. Paolucci, pp. 82 – 83, Livorno, 2023, e bibliografia precedente

Text by
Ambra Famiglietti
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