After Caligula’s assassination, commemorative images of him were destroyed. The vein-like shadows of incrustation on the surface of this portrait suggest it was buried in a watery environment. Vigorous cleaning has removed much of its remaining polychromy, but it was likely similar to that in the reconstruction nearby. Visible-induced luminescence imaging has identified Egyptian blue on the reverse of the bust, although its purpose remains unclear. Blended with white and pink pigments, Egyptian blue creates a cool brilliance that was used for flesh tones on Roman portraits; mixed with carbon black, it was also used to represent shading.
#1094. Marble portrait bust of the emperor Gaius, known as Caligula
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
3/4 view
3/4 view
right
left
Visible-induced infrared luminescence image, showing Egyptian blue pigment on lower reverse of bust. Image: Mark Abbe
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Marble portrait bust of the emperor Gaius, known as Caligula
Period:Early Imperial, Julio-Claudian
Date:37–41 CE
Culture:Roman
Medium:Marble
Dimensions:H. 20 in. (50.8 cm) length 7 1/16 in. (18 cm)
Classification:Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1914
Accession Number:14.37
Said to have been found near Marino, Lago Albano
[Until 1914, with Alfredo Barsanti, Rome]; acquired in 1914, purchased from A. Barsanti.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1914. "Department of Classical Art: Accessions of 1913." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 9(3): pp. 60–61, figs. 2–3.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1917. Handbook of the Classical Collection. p. 247, fig. 151, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 293, 295, fig. 206, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1930. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 293, 295, fig. 206, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1940. "A Rearrangement of Roman Portraits." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 35(10): p. 201.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1941. Roman Portraits, Vol. 1. no. 20, p. 4, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1948. Roman Portraits, 2nd edn. no. 36, p. iii, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1970. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. New York: Dutton.
von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1978. Antichnoe iskusstvo iz muzeia Metropoliten, Soedinennye Shtaty Ameriki: Katalog vystavki. no. 95, Moscow: Sovetskii Khudozhnik.
Milleker, Elizabeth J. 2000. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West no. 14, pp. 34, 205, New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 413, pp. 358, 486, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2012. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. p. 77, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Zanker, Paul. 2016. Roman Portraits: Sculptures in Stone and Bronze in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 21, pp. 57, 74–76, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Zanker, Paul, Seán Hemingway, Christopher S. Lightfoot, and Joan R. Mertens. 2019. Roman Art : A Guide through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection. no. 153, pp. 304, 306–7, New York: Scala Publishers.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2020. ART = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History. pp. 033, 277, New York: Phaidon Press.
Archaeologists Vinzenz and Ulrike Koch Brinkmann reflect on how reconstructing the former color of an ancient Roman bust can help us better understand history
Curator Christopher S. Lightfoot welcomes a bust of Roman Emperor Domitian to the Met as part of a one-year loan exchange with The Toledo Museum of Art.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
