Vatican, Inv. N° 251, exhibited
in the Sala Rotonda. Found in 1790 in Villa Hadriiana, acquired by the Vatican
under Pius VI [1717-1775-1799], restored - nose, hair - by an unidentified sculptor
and exhibited in the newly opened Sala Rotonda where it became rapidly famous.
After the invasion of Italy by the French troops, the bust was seized by order
of the general Bonaparte [1769-1821] under the terms of the Peace of Bologna (1796)
and exposed in Paris from November 1801 until the end of the Napoleonic regime.
Since its restitution to the Vatican, it regained its previous place in 1816 and
has no longer left it since then. The peculiar features of this bust have led
Marconi to propose it as the true portrait of Antinous (1923), opinion soon r!
ejected on the ground that the treatment of the hair better corresponds to a divinity
than to a human being. «Offenbar
sollte hier für die kaiserliche Villa etwas Selbständigeres, vom Schema
Abweichendes geschaffen werden. Das erklärt auch die scheinbar individuellere
Gestaltung» (Georg Lippold, 1936)
Vatican, Inv. N° 636,
Sala dei Busti. Despite (unconvincing) attempts to trace it back to the 16th century,
its provenance is still uncertain; it could simply have been found in the Villa
Hadriana in the middle of the 18th century. Presented by Cardinal F. M. Lante
(1695-1773) to Clemens XIV when he created the “Sala dei Busti” towards
1770, and permanently exhibited there since then. «Le travail du buste
est assez soigné ; les traits du visage, délicatement lissés,
présentent un contraste voulu avec la chevelure, moins travaillée»
(Paolo Liverani, 1999)
Vatican, Inv. N° 540,
exhibited in the Sala Rotonda. Found in April 1793 in a villa belonging to Hadrian
and situated in Preaneste (today : Palestrina). When found, the statue was nearly
intact, simply broken at the legs, otherwise barely scratched, having obviously
been concealed probably at the time of Constantine the Great (ca. 288-306-337),
at the latest under Theodosius the Great (ca. 346-379-395). Restored by Giovanni
Pierantoni (?-ca. 1814) between 1793 and 1795. Presented soon afterwards by Pope
Pius VI to his nephew the Duke Luigi Braschi Onesti (1745-1816). Confiscated by
the French when they occupied Rome from 1798, the statue never left the harbour
of Rome, and was returned to his proprietor towards 1801. Pio Braschi Onesti,
son of Luigi, sold it to Pope Gregorius XIV in 1843, who had it displayed in the
Lateran Museum, open in 1844. Later, in 1863, Pope Pius IX had it moved to the
Sala Rotonda of the Vatican, where it has been standing since then. Called the
"Antinous Braschi" since the end of the 19th century, after its first
owner. «Die Breite und Tiefe der Brust, das starke Vortreten der Brustwarzen,
die reine Glätte der fleischigen Gesichtszüge sind wohl Eigentümlichkeiten
des Modells gewesen» (Robert West, 1941)
Last picture © by Bill
Jennings (Flickr.com)
Vatican, Inv. N° 9805,
exhibited in the seldom accessible "Lateran Collection." Statue of a
Genie, supplemented by a head of Antinous. Found in 1798 in Ostia.
Vatican, Galleria Chiaramonti,
Inv. N° 2090, Exhibited in the gallery, sealed in the wall of the bay LIV.
Fragment of a relief acquired in 1803 from F. Lisandroni and A. d’Este. First
recognised as Alexander the Great, then anonymous, it had to wait until the end
of the 20th century to be tentatively identified with Antinous. «Unleugbar
besteht ein Zusammenhang mit dem Antinoosideal, weshalb sich die Frage stellt,
ob nicht vielleicht der Bithynier selbst gemeint ist.» (Hugo Meyer,
1991)
Vatican. Galleria Chiaramonti,
Inv. N° 2065, exhibited in the gallery Chiaramonti since its acquisition,
now in the bay LI. Head of Antinous adequately set on a not-pertaining youth’s
statuette. Provenance unknown. Acquired as such from Alesio Franzoni in 1804.
Often ignored in the literature.
Vatican – Galleria Chiaramonti,
Inv N° 2065, now in the gallery Chiaramonti, bay II. Head of Antinous. The
lower part of the face and the neck are modern restorations. Acquired in the years
1810 or 1820. Permanently exhibited since then, albeit at various places. Although
the loos of his headgear precludes a firm identification of the divinity under
which Antinous is represented, Ganymede or Attis are most often quoted : «In
questo caso, Antinoo appare nelle vesti di Attis o di Ganimede» (Paolo
Liverani, 1989)
Vatican, Museo Gregoriano
Egiziano, Inv. No 22795, exhibited in 3rd Room. It is now believed that, at Hadrian’s
time, a set of ten marble statues of various sizes and colours, all representing
Antinous in Egyptian guise like this one, decorated the niches of the ‘Serapeum’
of the ‘Canope’ of the Villa Hadriana. This one, the most spectacular,
was found in 1739. Its (few) restorations are attributed to Filippo della Valle
[1697-1768]. Acquired in 1742 by Benedict XIV [1675-1740-1758] for the Capitoline
Museum. Identified as Antinous in 1761 by Johann Joachim Winckelmann [1717-1768].
Exhibited in the very middle of the ‘Salone’ of the Capitoline Museum
until seized by the French troops on the ground of the Peace of Bologna (1796),
it arrived in Paris in July 1798 and was exhibited in the Louvre (then ‘Musée
Napoléon’) from November 1801until the collapse of the Napoleonic
regime. Returned then
to its proprietors, it came back to Rome in January 1816 and was exhibited again
in the Capitoline Museum, albeit in another room, later called ‘Room of the
Dying Galate’. Handed over to the ‘Museo Gregoriano Egiziano’ inaugurated
in February 1839 by Gregory XVI [1765-1831-1846], the statue was exhibited in
the 3rd room where it still stands today. The two pictures at the top left show
the statue before the rearrangement of this room in the mid-1980’s. «Scultura
eccelente, e così fresca, che pare essere fatta in questi nostri giorni»
(Francesco de Ficoroni, 1744)
Two Last pictures © by Bill
Jennings (Flickr.com)
Copy
of the Egyptian Antinous of the Vatican
Vatican, Museo Egiziano,
Inv. N° 36464, Barberini Antinous, exhibited in 3rd Room. Because of the similarity
with the upper statue, one suspects that it is also an Antinous.
Vatican. Museo Egiziano, exhibited
in 3rd Room. Antinous Osiris. Replica of the statue once in the Villa Albani,
now in Munich.
Vatican. Museo Gregoriano
Egizio, Inv. N° 2170, exhibited in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican, from
1822 until 1989, since then in the 3rd Room of the Egyptian Museum. Bust possibly
found in the “Pantanello” of the Villa Hadriana. In antiquity, the eyes were inserted
with precious stones and the head, most probably, adorned by a lotus flower. Its
identity is sometimes contested. «Jugendlicher Kopf mit ägyptischer
Kopfbedeckung, dem durch die Ergänzung Ähnlichkeit mit Antinous verliehen
ist» (Walther Amelung, 1903)
Vatican. Cortile del Belvedere.
Inv. N° 102, exhibited. Head on non-associated statue. The provenances of
both the statue and the head are unknown. The statue was acquired from Vincenzo
Pacetti by the Vatican in 1804, possibly already restored with its present head
; alternatively, the head may have been added in 1807. Long taken for Bacchus,
it was first recognised as Antinous at the beginning of the 20th century. «Un
dios pasivo e inexpresivo, con sus largos cabellos que desvirtúan la verdadera
y característica cabellera del bitinio» (Francisco de la Maza,
1966)
Antinous-Telamons, Musei Vaticani, Sala a Croce Greca, Museo Pio Clementino Inv.
Nº 194. The two telamons, also known as "Cioci" or Antinous Telamoni, high 3.35,
in oriental red granite or syenite brought from Aswan in Egypt, were found around
1450 in the Villa Adriana. The two telamons were placed at both sides of the entrance
to the Palazzo Vescovile (Episcopal Palace) of Tivoli. The two statues remained
in that emplacement until 1779, when Bishop G. Mattei Natali and the city council
of Tivoli donated them to Pope Pius VI. The telamons were restored in 1780 by
Gaspare Sibilla.
Vatican. Museo Gregoriano Egiziano, Inv. 22847 and 22849. Janiform bust of Antinous
as Osiris-Apis (Serapis) springing from a lotus flower. ca. 131–138 CE. H. 50
cm (19 ½ in.). From the Serapaeum of the Canope in the Villa Adriana, near Tivoli,
1736. Photographer: Jastrow (2006)
Venice
Venice, Museo Archeologico
Nazionale. Pirro Ligorio (circa 1510 -1583) unearthed in the Villa Adriana in
the area he named the Palestra three half figures in red marble, with the heads
completely shaved, and wearing olive wreaths, which he interpreted as athletes.
But Serena Ensoli Vittozzini has recently interpreted the busts as generic priests
of goddess Isis or as busts of Antinous acting as priest of the cuIt of Isis.
These heads are in the Roman Musei Capitolini, in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale
of Venice and in the Pasisian Musée du Louvre.
Versailles
Versailles, Castle. Modern
marble bust, formerly in the Royal Collections, exhibited today near the "Ambassadors’
Staircase".
Vienna
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Inv. N° I.91, not exhibited. Origin unknown. Mentioned in Vienna in
1866. «Kopf von jugendlicher Anmuth, reiner Schönheit und schwermüthigen
Ausdrucke» (Eduard von Sacken, 1866)
Warsaw
Warsaw, National Museum, Inv
N° 148919. Acquired in 1930 from the collection Max von Heyl, Darmstadt. Previous
provenance unknown.
Worcester
(USA)
Worcester, Museum, Inv. N°
1971.88. Acquired 1971.
Unknown
Private Collections
Private Collection. Antique
Antinous head on a modern bust. Found in 1769 in the Pantanello of the Villa Hadriana.
Property of the House of Lansdowne from 1772 to 1995, when it was then acquired
by an anonymous collector. «The calantica suits the character of the
head admirably» (Adolf Michaelis, 1882)
Private collection Dr. Bauer,
found in Ephesos.
Private collection Dr. Bauer,
from the Villa Hadriana.
Royal Athena Galleries Auction
house, New York, London. Larger-than-life marble head. No further information.
Private collection, San Antonio,
Texas. Head from a statue of Dionysos, reworked as Antinoos. Origin unknown. Appeared
for the first time at an auction held in 1984.
Auktion François De
Ricqlès, Paris, 2 Oktober 2000. Antinoos as Bacchus.
Auction, 1983, in Würzburg
(Austria). Formerly collection De Clercq, Paris. Bust found in Syria around 1875.
Lost Portraits
Antinoopolis, fragment of
a white marble statue of Antinous. Found during the “Expédition d’Egypte”
(1799-1801) and transported to Cairo, where it got lost. Innumerable fragments
of similar statues, mutilated on obvious purpose, were at that time still laying
at the foot of the columns erected on both sides of the main street of Antinoopolis.
In the mid-19th century, any bit and piece of marble was converted into lime to
construct a factory in Rhoda, on the other edge of the Nile. As a result, Antinoopolis
disappeared from the surface of the earth. «Les formes pures et juvéniles
respirent pourtant une certaine vigueur ; autant qu’on puisse en juger, l’attitude
était d’une mollesse pleine de grâce» (Edmé-François
Jomard, 1818)
Berlin, Altes Museum, Inv N° (Conze) 365. From the collection Polignac. Acquired
for Friedrich II in 1742. Lost towards the end of World War II. «Im Ausdruck
und in der Anordnung des Haares erinnert dieser Kopf hauptsächlich an den
kolossalen Mondragone Antinous» (Eduard Gerhard, 1836)
