The Charioteer of Delphi – photo by Raminus Falcon
The Face of Victory? A Misidentified Head in Rome and the ‘Problem’ of Charioteer Portraits
Sinclair Bell
Le cirque romain et son image: ed. J. Nelis-Clément and J.M. Roddaz, 393–411. (Collection Mémoires, 20). Bordeaux: Ausonius Editions (2008)
Abstract
Since its publication some twenty years ago, John Humphrey’s monograph has assumed a central place inthe study of circus iconography. While not a work of art history proper, Humphrey’s study relies heavily upon visual evidence in reconstructing the contexts in which chariot racing took place. The importance of iconography to his project is clearly refected by the way in which art historians continue to draw upon it in their own research, whether in studies of new (or rediscovered) works, typological analyses, or works of synthesis. However, because Humphrey’s focus is on sites, the artworks discussed by him tend to be narrative depictions: that is, scenes of thecircus at large (the subject of Bettina Bergmann’s contribution here) rather than depictions of its individual actors. This chapter seeks to make a small contribution to the study of the latter type of imagery; in particular, a corpus of artworksthat commemorate patrons who, although once highly visible in Roman society, remain surprisingly understudied and mi-sunderstood today: portraits of charioteers.
This chapter will consider these works by focusing upon a single, problematic example, a head now in Rome that has long been identified as a “fanciullo auriga”. The first part of this chapter briefly surveys the sources of evidence for the study of child and adult charioteer portraits and statuary, and exposes some of the shared assumptions that have underwritten them is identification of these works in the past. The following section reviews the scholarship on the head in Rome, including the original argument for its identification and the influence that this has had upon subsequent scholarship. The final partdemonstrates how the weight of the evidence suggests that the head does not represent a Roman charioteer but rather an ideal figure (not a portrait), most likely a Greek athlete.
The Face of Victory? A Misidentified Head in Rome and the ‘Problem’ of Charioteer Portraits
Sinclair Bell
Le cirque romain et son image: ed. J. Nelis-Clément and J.M. Roddaz, 393–411. (Collection Mémoires, 20). Bordeaux: Ausonius Editions (2008)
Abstract
Since its publication some twenty years ago, John Humphrey’s monograph has assumed a central place inthe study of circus iconography. While not a work of art history proper, Humphrey’s study relies heavily upon visual evidence in reconstructing the contexts in which chariot racing took place. The importance of iconography to his project is clearly refected by the way in which art historians continue to draw upon it in their own research, whether in studies of new (or rediscovered) works, typological analyses, or works of synthesis. However, because Humphrey’s focus is on sites, the artworks discussed by him tend to be narrative depictions: that is, scenes of thecircus at large (the subject of Bettina Bergmann’s contribution here) rather than depictions of its individual actors. This chapter seeks to make a small contribution to the study of the latter type of imagery; in particular, a corpus of artworksthat commemorate patrons who, although once highly visible in Roman society, remain surprisingly understudied and mi-sunderstood today: portraits of charioteers.
This chapter will consider these works by focusing upon a single, problematic example, a head now in Rome that has long been identified as a “fanciullo auriga”. The first part of this chapter briefly surveys the sources of evidence for the study of child and adult charioteer portraits and statuary, and exposes some of the shared assumptions that have underwritten them is identification of these works in the past. The following section reviews the scholarship on the head in Rome, including the original argument for its identification and the influence that this has had upon subsequent scholarship. The final partdemonstrates how the weight of the evidence suggests that the head does not represent a Roman charioteer but rather an ideal figure (not a portrait), most likely a Greek athlete.
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