Augustus of Prima Porta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prima Porta Augustus

White Marble

Augustus of Prima Porta is a statue of Augustus Caesar which was discovered on April 20, 1863 in the Villa of Augustus, Prima Porta, Rome. It is now displayed in the Bracchio Nuovo of the Vatican Museums.

The statue is an idealized image of Augustus based on the 5th century BC Doryphoros by Polykleitos. That work's contraposto form (creating diagonals between tense and relaxed limbs, a feature typical of classical sculpture) and misidentification in the Roman period as Achilles^{[citation needed]} are both drawn on here.

During his lifetime, Augustus did not wish to be depicted as a god (unlike many later emperors, who embraced divinity), but this statue has many thinly-veiled references to the emperor's "divine nature". Augustus is shown barefoot, which indicates that he is a hero and perhaps even a god, and also adds a civilian aspect to an otherwise military portrait. The small Cupid at his feet is a reference to the claim that the Julian family descended from the goddess Venus, made by both Augustus and by his adoptive father Caesar - a way of claiming divine lineage without claiming the full divine status which was acceptable in the Greek East but not yet in Rome itself.

The statue itself is characterized by numerous small carved figures, particularly on the breastplate, which depicts the return of the Roman legionary standards lost at Carrhae thanks to the diplomacy of Augustus. It would originally have been painted.

Boris Johnson, in his "The Dream of Rome" TV series and book, referred to this statue as Augustus with his "arm aloft like Shane Warne doing his flipper, effulgent in marble and larger than life”.