Portrait Bust of Antinous as Osiris
130-138, with 21st–century English restorations
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
Including socle: 94 × 68.6 × 47 cm (37 1/16 × 27 1/16 × 18 9/16 in.); 94 × 68.6 × 47 cm (37 × 27 × 18 1/2 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
230470
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Antinous (about 111–130), the young lover of Emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–38), drowned in the Nile River in the year 130 while they were on an imperial tour of Egypt. Devastated by the untimely death, Hadrian founded a city in his honor, Antinoupolis, located on the east bank of the Nile, and pronounced him a god. Worship of Antinous spread, and over time portraits of him were produced throughout the Roman Empire. In this depiction, Antinous wears the traditional headdress of an Egyptian pharao...
About the Artist
Ancient Roman
The artists attributed to "Ancient Roman" in museum collections represent the anonymous craftsmen who produced the vast output of sculpture, frescoes, mosaics, and reliefs defining Roman visual culture from the Republic (c. 509–27 BCE) to the late Empire (c. 395 CE). Individual identities remain elusive, as Roman makers were typically viewed as skilled tradesmen—often enslaved Greeks or provincial...