Bust of Septimius Severus

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Terracotta sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Terracotta store, cabinet Q, shelf 5

Inventory

PV 13454

Material and technique

Terracotta/ patina

Author

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1717-1799)

Dating

Second half of 18th century

Dimensions

51.5x46.5 cm.

Origin

Cavaceppi Collection (1799); Torlonia Collection (last quarter of 19th century); Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

The bust of the Emperor Septimius Severus was given by Cardinal Alessandro Albani to Pope Benedict XIV, who installed it in the Capitoline Museum, where it is still on display in the Sala degli Imperatori, the Room of the Emperors. It is a work of great formal refinement that dates back to the 3rd century A.D., with the head made of white marble and the bust of green-yellowish alabaster. Compared to the original, the Palazzo Venezia bust is twenty centimeters smaller and, though maintaining a strict adherence to the classical model, shows some variations in interpretation. Notably, the movement of the mantle is more delicate while the facial expression is softened by younger features and a younger look in the eyes.

 Cristiano Giometti

Bibliography

M. G. Barberini and C. Gasparri (eds.), Bartolomeo Cavaceppi scultore romano (1717-1799), exh. cat., Rome 1994, p. 103; C. Brook - V. Curzi (eds.), Roma e l'Antico. Realtà e visione nel '700, exh. cat., Rome 2010, p. 420.