I picked up, on EBay, this plaster 5.5x4.5cm Grand Tour souvenir. Other than what you can find in the wikipedia, I know little about this cameo (with a "30" scratched on the back) or about the 17th and 18th century tradition of Grand Tours. With this post, perhaps the CT community can fill in some blanks or name that Roman. I was attracted to the sharp portrait (a draped and curaissed bust, not unlike what we find on Roman Imperial coins), the patina of age, and the price was right. A Grand Tour was a tradition of European travel for continuing education of the new graduate, and the small plaster souvenirs were a way of documenting the travels in an era when photographs, and facebook posts had not yet been imagined. These could be mounted with notes in books as a record of travels and sights. I thought maybe a portrait of Caligula? I don't have a coin of Caligula, but it also reminded me of this As of Claudius: Æ As of Claudius, AD 41-54 Mint: Rome Struck AD 41-43 Obv: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AV[G P M TR P IMP PP] Bare head left Rev: Minerva advancing right, brandishing spear and holding shield, between S - C Size: 9.04g 26.1mm Ref: RCV 1861-1862 Share anything related to Grand Tour souvenirs, the identity of the unknown Roman above, or coins (as this is CoinTalk).
It reminds me of this Alexandrian tet of Valerian that I had that find a new home in the last AMCC1 auction:
Very cool cameo! Before venturing my assumption I would need to know if that is a beard on his jaw line or just wear?
It is a question I have also - I think it is just wear, there is a slight ridge and as you can see not perfectly smooth on the jaw line but not really a beard.
Lacking chin hair and sideburns I'm in agreement. And clearly this is a man and not a youth. So there goes Caracalla and Hadrian. If not for the curly hair coming out of the wreath on the front of his head I might even venture a guess to it being JC himself... That said, with all available evidence I am leaning towards Caligula as well.
Perhaps a non-emperor prince like Germanicus or Drusus? The artwork is modern so it could just be 'Roman'.
I don't think it is a good image of any emperor. Only Nerva is depicted on coins with a nose like that and rest of the portrait is unlike Nerva. As usual, @dougsmit is perceptive. I agree with him.
My reservation that it is just some guy is the laurel crown. Even if it's not an honest representation of some Julio/Claudian or just a generic image of am emperor, it is representative of an emperor. Not even a Caesar would be depicted wearing the laurel.
Thanks all for the guesses and points of view, the diverse answers give me some comfort that it isn't readily identifiable (not a good portrait of any specific emperor, or just 'Roman'). I can see the connection to young Caracalla suggested by @Roman Collector and @Archeocultura (coin below), and nose and mouth do look a lot like @Justin Lee 's Sylvester Stallone-like Valerian. Here's an interesting article describing Caligula's signature haircut, which maybe says it well: Those who have studied Julio-Claudian portraiture know well that there are many problems in identifying the various members of this complex imperial family, whose portraits show a strong resemblance to one another not only physiognomically but also with respect to their iconographic hairstyles.
I think he's just a generic "Roman". At first glance I wondered if perhaps this wasn't just another neoclassical rendering of Napoleon, but no, I do think he's Roman enough. Not sure we'll ever pin it down definitively, but it will be fun to see the comparisons made. It's a handsome object, in any event.