Bust of Trajan
- Title:
- Bust of Trajan
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Gipsformerei (German repository, Berlin, contemporary) (reproduction)
Unknown (original)
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
early 2nd c. CE
2009 (image)
- Site:
- Berlin, Germany
- Location:
- Warehouse
726 University Avenue
on loan at Herbert F. Johnson Museum (as of 4/2014)
Berlin, Germany - ID Number:
- CCC_0628
- Accession Number:
- probably Sage no. 510
number incised on back of socle: 669 (Gipsformerei cast number)
305 - File Name:
- CCC_0628.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 70 (H) cm
- Culture:
- Roman
- Style/Period:
- Imperial
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in the round (original) - Subject:
- Trajan, Emperor of Rome, 53-117
- Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 71 x 41 x 25 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast of a bust of the emperor Trajan of the Opferbildtypus, identifiable by the emperor's distinctive hairstyle. The emperor has a broad, round face and short hair arranged into a fork and pincer above his left eye. He turns his head to his left and looks out with large, almond-shaped eyes. His nose is long, his lips are thin and closed. He wears a cloak (paludamentum) fixed with a round fibula over his left shoulder and a sword belt (balteus) slung over his right shoulder and and across his chest. Cast mold seams are visible. Almost nothing is known about the provenience of the original from which this cast was made or of its current whereabouts. The original was lost before 1940, when it was first published by W. H. Gross based on knowledge of it from a cast held at the Martin von Wagner Museum in Würzburg. That cast is the only one known to have been taken from the original object before its disappearance. Other copies, including Cornell's, are casts of that cast. According to Gross, the nose and portions of the bust are certain restorations, but the full extent of restoration work to the original can not be ascertained from the cast. The cast was included in a Mellon Curatorial Practicum project undertaken at the Johnson Museum by Cornell graduate students in Archaeology and related fields. Further information about the object and the project can be found at the following web addresses: https://curatorialpracticum.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/copies-in-plaster-the-bust-of-trajan-and-other-works-from-the-johnson-museum/ http://museum.cornell.edu/files/all/hfj-curpracticetoday-web.pdf
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
Original lost since before 1940; cast from original - Bibliography:
- Walter Hatto Gross, Bildnisse Trajans, Das römische Herrscherbild. Abt. 2, Bd. 2 (Berlin: Mann, 1940), 110, 132 no. 71, pl. 31 a
Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Katalog der Originalabgüsse, Heft 4, Griechenland und Rom: Freiplastik, pl. 67, no. 669 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Würzburg, Martin von Wagner Museum (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.