Portraits of Emperors

I saw this. It is a link to an artist that rendered amazingly life like, and seemingly accurate, portraits of Roman Emperors. It starts with Augustus and goes up through the Recovery, ending with Carinus and Numerian. I'm not associated with the artistor anything, just thought it was worth sharing. We've looked at these faces in marble, bronze and silver untold times; seeing a "picture" of them is amazing. It's worth a look.

https://medium.com/@voshart/photoreal-roman-emperor-project-236be7f06c8f

 

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I think the most attractive are Caligula and Marcus Aurelius

 

Wow, pretty cool @LukeGob . Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for posting this. I saw it last night, and found it quite interesting.

Oddly enough, the one of Marcus Aurelius stood out to me as being the most unrealistic: his coin portraits all show him with very curly hair, at all ages. This portrait does not. I don't think it looks much like him facially, either.

 

Interesting results

 

A project like this is fascinating, but when there are (presumably) contemporary portrait busts of emperors to go by, many of these don't look like who they're supposed to represent. Just one example is Caracalla, colorized here directly from his portrait bust:

 

The only other (relatively minor) issue I have is that the skin coloring is essentially speculative, except to the extent it follows contemporaneous descriptions or, in at least one case, portraits. It's based on assumptions that everyone from a particular geographical area has a particular complexion, which of course isn't necessarily the case for any given individual. Still a fascinating project, though.

 

I agree with Donna, the depiction of Marcus Aurelius does not match his contemporary portraits; the same can be said for Verus. Otho, Sev Alexander and Gordian III also look odd to me. I do like the artist's rendering of Galba, which seems to be more accurate compared to contemporary depictions.

ALSO: it is interesting that the project stops with Carinus/Numerian. I suppose it is hard to accurately depict emperors from the tetrarchy onwards due to the stylization of late antique portraits.

 

I like the Galba portrait too. It's how I imagine him, at least. I also think Augustus and Caligula, among others, are quite recognizable.

 

You are right, Caracalla, among others, (Marcus Aurelius isn't close) are a bit off. Many, Elegabalus especially, are pretty good though. I wasn't thinking of this as reference of some kind so much as...I don't know how to put it. Part of what I love about ancient coins is the feeling of connection to people over a thousand years gone that I get from actually holding a coin that they made & used. They become more than stories. This, at least for me, helped with that. It further brought to life all the otherwise useless info we've learned for attributing our coins.

 

To quote a famous New Testament observer (Paul) of mankind: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." (RSV-Revised Standard Version).
In my very shaky opinion this is an excellent project that gives life to an inanimate object and reminds us that we all view things differently.

As collectors of these wonderful objects we can easily understand this concept when we think of grading. It's EF if I view my coin, to the purchaser it is a VF and therefore should be reduced in price. This is my hobby, I do it for fun. Cheers to all.

 

I like how Nero seems to have a smirk

 

To me many of the portraits look lifelike, but often not of the given emperor. Here is the link the to photoreal images again:
https://medium.com/@voshart/photoreal-roman-emperor-project-236be7f06c8f
I would not recognize Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, or Commodus, in addition to the ones mentioned above.

Last November I started a thread on portrait busts.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-palatine-museum-an-emperors-bust.350731/
When I was at the Palatine Museum I had no trouble identifying the emperors without looking at the labels. Maybe I don't like some of the photoreal images is because they are facing and I'm trained on profiles. For example, it is hard to see the weak chin of Claudius in that image. Here it is on a coin:


Claudius. as. 28 mm. 11.12 grams.
Minerva right with spear and shield
RIC 116.

@DonnaML is right about Marcus Aurelius. He had curly hair and the image does not.

I'd add that Septimius Severus often has a forked beard, which cannot be seen front-on on a coin, but which is indicated on many:



I would not have identified the photoreal image as Septimius Severus because it lacks any indication of the forked beard. I admit some extant statues identified as Septimius Severus lack it, but I trust the coins.

On the other hand, many others are convincingly realistic. For example, Gallienus, (young) Augustus, Vespasian, Nero, Caracalla, and others.

 

I would be tempted to post a grid of 100 portraits - 99 of Septimius Severus and one of someone else. Finding the one would not be easy for many here. He did not always have a forked beard (but I agree the one of him in the set is poor).

 

I agree with Galba being one of the most accurate, and I'd add a vote for Elagabalus looking exactly like his coin portrait.

 

The one I like the most, no way... of course Augustus

 

Must admit it was a bit of a WOW when I first looked at the lineup......Each one of us individually have our perception/image of how these people really looked.....When we're staring at our coins or perusing through references with images of busts and sculptures etc, We then picture our own passport photo of each emperor......Some of these depictions were spot on for me and others not, likewise everyone here probably feels the same...
After reading the book I had a similar senario when I watched 'Lord of the rings' with some of the characters being more familiar than others.......
Cool idea!

 

I think the Gallienus was very similar to his images on coins.

 

That's an interesting exercise, but I guess I'm set in my ways, and prefer to think of the Roman emperors in the mind's eye, with the help of coins, plays and books. Literal depictions do little for me but serve as curiosities.

Of course there have also been numerable dramatizations of the lives of some of the emperors, notably I, Cluadius on BBC. I did also see Christopher Plummer play Mark Anthony (not really a emperor, a wanna-be , I suppose) on stage.

While Derek Jacoby's performance in I, Claudius was remarkable, and Plummer's Anthony full of fire opposite Zoe Caldwell's Cleopatra, the performances primarily served, at least for me, as catalysts to spur my interest in ancient history and eventually collect coins of the ancient world.



Here's a sestertius of Claudius, probably from a mint in Gaul. His neck on this example would suggest that the Claudian line included a few giraffes.

Roman Empire, 41-54 AD
Claudius
Branch mint, 41-2 AD
Sestertius
Von Kaenel 1333-49, BM-130
Paris-270, C-85, RIC-99
Obverse: Claudius, bare head, facing right, DN CLAUDIVS CAESAR AVG PM ...
Reverse: Spes advancing left, holding branch, SPES AVGVSTA, SC below
Struck at a branch mint, probably located in Gaul (possibly Lyon, the city of his birth?).
22.24 grams
33 mm, 6 h.
Small flan flaw on the neck and cheek. Nice portrait. Ex Harlan Berk.

 

I don’t think Mr. Voshart would have lasted long under Otho or Florianus, those images are quite....

Love staring at these though, so many conform to how I would have imagined them, but Augustus, Caligula, Trajan, Hadrian, Caracalla, and Aurelian take the cake for me.

Special shout out to Hostilian, talk about a model