About the Artwork
This late Roman head is of an emperor designate perhaps ten years old and is part of a group of portraits of the emperor Theodosius I and his sons. The boy, with down-cast eyes and a rather closed facial expression, wears a jeweled diadem and would probably have had a metal rayed crown with a central gemstone set behind the diadem. The portrait was completed just before the monolithic Roman Empire was divided between Honorius and his brother.
Head of Emperor Honorius as a Child
late 4th century CE
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Roman
Unknown
Marble
Overall: 4 × 3 1/4 × 3 3/4 inches (10.2 × 8.3 × 9.5 cm) Including base: 6 1/4 × 3 1/4 × 3 3/4 inches (15.9 × 8.3 × 9.5 cm)
Sculpture
Greco-Roman and Ancient European
Gift of Dr. Wilhelm R. Valentiner
37.157
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
William Valentiner (New York, USA)
1937-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Rathbone, Perry T. "Three Roman Portrait Heads," Bulletin of the DIA 17, no. 8 (May 1938): pp. 68–70.
Richardson, Elliot P. Small in Size, Great in Art. 1946, p. 7, (ill.).
Walters Art Gallery, org. Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, April 25-June 22, 1947, p. 23, no. 4, (ill.) pl. 8.
Delbrueck, Richard. "Knabenkopf in Detroit," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaelogischen Instituts, vol. 4. 1951, pp. 7-9, pl. 1-3.
Vermeule, Cornelius C. "Greek and Roman Portraits in North American Collections Open to the Public," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 108, no. 2. 1964, p. 104.
The Art of the Late Antique from American Collections. Exh. cat., Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. Boston, December 18, 1968-February 16, 1969, no. 17, pl. 9.
Romans and Barbarians. Exh. cat., Boston Museum of Fine Art. Boston, December 16, 1976-February 27, 1977, no. 188, p. 151, (ill.).
Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, November 19, 1977-February 12, 1978, cat. no. 21, pp. 27-8 (ill.).
Henshaw, Julia, ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 117 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Roman, Head of Emperor Honorius as a Child, late 4th century CE, marble. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Dr. Wilhelm R. Valentiner, 37.157.
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