FEMALE HEAD Roman art, Julio-Claudian period,... Lot 1

FEMALE HEAD Roman art, Julio-Claudian period, late 1st century BC - early 1st century AD White marble with greyish patina. Surface wear, missing nose H_ 30 cm Provenance Private collection of Mr X. (1931-2017) dispersed in aid of the Monegasque Red Cross monégasque A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF A WOMAN, JULIO- CLAUDIAN PERIOD, LATE 1ST CENTURY B.C. - EARLY 1ST CENTURY A.D. 12 in. High Her hair is divided by two parallel partings in three portions. The middle section is brushed forward to form a roll above the forehead (fixed by a central braid) and is then divided into two braids wound around the head. The lateral sections letting the ears uncovered are made in wavy strands, to the back of the neck where the ends of all three sections are gathered into a knot (unfinished). The surface above the braids has fine wavy lines engraved on it. Under each extremity of the knot and before the ears, thins wavy braids are sculpted The raw right section shows that the portrait was unfinished. The elongated face is characterized by mature features; slightly drooping cheeks, expression lines at the base of the nose and under the palms. The very arched eyebrows are thick and shadow the eyes. The eyes are large and the eyelids are hemmed. His right eye is slightly more droopy than the left. The high forehead is topped by a "nodus" hairstyle; very fashionable from the end of the Republican era, until the reign of Tiberius. The headdress is divided into three parts. The central part is formed by a knot in front held by a central braid, then divided into two braids going around the head. The rest of the hair is made up of fine wavy strands, all brought back to the base of the neck in a bun (unfinished). On the sides of the forehead and above the ears, a few fine wavy locks fall in an elegant manner. The nose is broken as well as the upper part of the lips. The marble block in section on the right side of the head indicates that this is an unfinished portrait. The typical hairstyle of the Julio-Claudian period, as well as the aged and hardened facial features of this woman, reminds us of some portraits of the empress Livia Drusilla (58 BC - 29 AD), mother of Tiberius and Drusus and married in second marriage to Caesar Octavian, the future emperor Augustus. For similar portraits see: Portrait of an unknown woman in the Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 99.345 Portrait of Livia of the nodus type in the Landes Museum, Stuttgart, inv. Arch 65/14