This classically styled, crowned head is probably that of Constans, the youngest of the four sons of Constantine the Great. Constans, a devout Christian, who initially ruled part of the western half of the Empire, gained all the west in 340. He defeated the Franks and was the last emperor to visit Britain. Constans was killed before he was thirty by the usurper Magnentius in 350.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Head of Emperor Constans (r. 337–50)
Date:ca. 337–40
Culture:Byzantine
Medium:Marble
Dimensions:Overall: 10 5/8 x 6 7/8 x 7 3/8 in. (27 x 17.5 x 18.8 cm) with base: 15 x 6 x 6 in. (38.1 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm) Base: 4 3/4 x 6 x 6 in. (12.1 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm) Diameter of Neck: 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm)
Classification:Sculpture-Vessels
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1967
Object Number:67.107
Private Collection, Istanbul (in 1932); Dr. Wilhelm Fabricius, Bonn and Istanbul (from ca. 1932); by descent to his son, Wilhelm Fabricius, Bonn (sold 1967)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Romans and Barbarians," December 17, 1976–February 27, 1977.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century," November 19, 1977–February 12, 1978.
Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College. "What is a Man? Changing Images of Masculinity in Late Antique Art," April 12–June 17, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Culture," September 26, 2006–February 18, 2007.
Trier, Germany. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. "Konstantin der Grosse: Imperator Caesar, Flavius, Constantinus," June 2, 2007–November 4, 2007.
Paderborn, Germany. Diözesanmuseum Paderborn. "Credo: Christianisierung Europas im Mittelalter," July 26, 2013–November 3, 2013.
"Zwei Bildnisse Eines Spätrömischen Kaisers." Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 47 (1932). pp. 135–38, abb. 1–3, pl. 5, 6.
Delbrück, Richard. Spätantike kaiserporträts von Constantinus Magnus bis zum ende des Westreichs. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1933. pp. 154–55, pl. 58, 59.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Ninety-Seventh Annual Report of the Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Fiscal Year 1966-1967." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 26, no. 2 (October 1967). p. 83.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Byzantium." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 26, no. 5 (January 1968). no. 10, p. 200.
Johansen, Flemming S. "Ritratto di un imperatore della tarda antichita a Copenhagen." Archeologia Classica 21, no. 2 (1969). pp. 260–61 n. 4, tav. XCII.
Beeson, Nora B., ed. Guide to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. no. 12, p. 212.
Calza, Raissa. Iconografia romana imperiale da Carausio a Giuliano (287-363 d.C.).. Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1972. no. 233, pp. 327–29, pl. CXIII.
Raggio, Olga, ed. "Medieval Art and the Cloisters." Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art) no. 1965/1975 (1975). p. 150.
Raggio, Olga, ed. Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975; Explanatory Texts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. p. 20.
Romans & Barbarians. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1976. no. 119, pp. 110, 112–13.
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. no. 15, p. 22.
Vermeule, Cornelius Clarkson. Greek and Roman Sculpture in America: Masterpieces in Public Collections in the United States and Canada. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. no. 325, p. 375.
L'Orange, Hans Peter, and Max Wegner. Das spätantike Herrscherbild von Diokletian bis zu den Konstantin-Söhnen 284-361 n. Chr.. Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1984. p. 133, pl. 58.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 6, 22, pl. 8.
Evans, Helen C., Melanie Holcomb, and Robert Hallman. "The Arts of Byzantium." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 58, no. 4 (Spring 2001). p. 14.
What Is a Man? Changing Images of Masculinity in Late Antique Art. Portland: Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, 2002. p. 29, pl. X.
Little, Charles T., ed. Set in Stone: The Face in Medieval Sculpture. New York, New Haven, and London: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006. no. 53, pp. 128–129.
Demandt, Alexander, and Josef Engemann, ed. Konstantin der Große: Imperator Caesar, Flavius, Constantinus. Trier: Konstantin-Ausstellungsgesellschaft (Rhineland Palatinate/Diocese of Trier/City of Trier), 2007. p. 72, CD-ROM: I.9.48.
Stiegemann, Christoph, Martin Kroker, and Wolfgang Walter, ed. CREDO: Christianisierung Europas im Mittelalter: Volume 2, Catalogue. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2013. no. 51, pp. 70–71.
Zanker, Paul. Roman Portraits: Stone and Bronze Sculptures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 32, pp. 63, 102–4.
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