Imperial and private portraiture : a case of non-dependence

Abstract

There is no doubt that in Roman artistic production state-commissioned sculpture ushered in new fashions and tastes that were immediattely, or in time, adopted in privately sponsored sculpture. This is generally taken for granted in the study of one of the most characteristic genres of Roman sculpture, namely portraiture. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out, this was not always the case. There were times when imperial portrait sculpture lagged behind in traditional schemes and conservative attitudes while private portraiture adopted new iconographic fashions and original stylistic idioms which were eventually taken up by official portaiture. This short paper deals with one instance of an iconographic nature, the wearing of the beard, which contends for precedence of private portraiture over the imperial one, whereas it is traditionally held that it was Hadrian who influenced its introduction into both imperial and private physiognomy.