The Emperor Hadrian
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The Roman emperor Hadrian loved all things Greek. He wrote poetry in Greek, could discuss Greek philosophy and literature, and occasionally even dressed as a Greek. Here, in his portrait, one can see certain Greek traits. The wearing of a beard associates him with the world of Greek culture, and the idealized features of the face suggest the influence of Classical Greek art.
He is portrayed in a military uniform since his role as general was critical to his rule. He wears a metal breastplate and under it (visible at the neck) a cloth tunic. A military cloak is draped over his left shoulder and was held by a now missing brooch. The head of Medusa stands out on his breastplate. This frightening image was originally meant to scare away potential danger.
With Mario Jandolo, Rome, by February 18, 1931;
Purchased from Jandolo by the dealers Rodolfo Colafranceschi and Alfredo Barsanti, Rome, February 18, 1931;
Purchased from Colafranceschi and Barsanti, through Harold Woodbury Parsons, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1931.
The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Handbook of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1933), 120.
The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 2nd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1941), 23, fig. 15.
Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 39.
Cornelius Vermeule, “Antinous, Favorite of the Emperor Hadrian,” Bulletin (The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum) 3, no. 2 (October 1960): 7, fig. 6.
Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 48.
Cornelius Vermeule, Greek and Roman Sculpture in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981), 310-11.
Max Wegner and Reingart Unger, “Verzeichnis des Bildnisse von Hadrian und Sabina,” Boreas 7 (1984): 118.
Klaus Fittschen and Paul Zanker, Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom, vol. 1, Kaiser- und Prinzenbildnisse, Beiträge zur Erschließung hellenistischer und kaiserzeitlischer Skulptur und Architektur 3 (Philipp von Zabern: Mainz am Rhein, 1985), 55, Beilage 38 a,b.
Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 121.
Cécile Evers, Les portraits d’Hadrien: Typologie et ateliers (Brussels: Académie royale de Belgique, 1994), 120-21, 183n3, 252, 310.
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 17, fig. 44.
