45. Roman bust of Hermarchus, c.2nd century AD
Marble
Height: 22.2cm
10120 EL
£ 120,000
Further images
Portrait of the philosopher Hermarchus sculpted in white marble, his head turning slightly to the left. Deep-set eyes gaze out from beneath a furrowed brow, his aquiline nose, sharp cheek...
Portrait of the philosopher Hermarchus sculpted in white marble, his head turning slightly to the left. Deep-set eyes gaze out from beneath a furrowed brow, his aquiline nose, sharp cheek bones and his long moustache with curling beard that frames his parted lips give an air of distinction. Upon his head are thick locks of wavy hair. The portrait is set on an integral herm-like bust with two rectangular recesses and dowel holes to the shoulders.
Small chips to the end of the nose, a triangular section to the base of the right rear shoulder restored. A small loss or abrasion on the right of his beard.
Hermarchus (c.340-after 270 BC) was a philosopher and a disciple of Epicurus, succeeding him as head of the Epicurean school in Athens. The portrait has been identified thanks to a bronze copy found in Herculaneum, which bore an inscription naming the individual as Hermarchus of Mytilene.
Small chips to the end of the nose, a triangular section to the base of the right rear shoulder restored. A small loss or abrasion on the right of his beard.
Hermarchus (c.340-after 270 BC) was a philosopher and a disciple of Epicurus, succeeding him as head of the Epicurean school in Athens. The portrait has been identified thanks to a bronze copy found in Herculaneum, which bore an inscription naming the individual as Hermarchus of Mytilene.
Provenance
Believed to be with Fulvio Orsini (1529-1600), Palazzo Farnese, Rome, ItalyEuropean private collection, 18th century (based on the restoration techniques)
Private collection, UK; acquired in the late 1970s-early 1980s
David Cambridge, Cheltenham, UK
Private collection, France; acquired 1999-2000
Exhibitions
Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong, Stone Talk - Elisa Sighicelli, 3rd October–14th November 2020Literature
For the type, dated to the mid-3rd century BC, see R. von den Hoff, Philosophen porträts des Früh-ind Hochhellenismus (Munich, 1994), pp.75ffPublications
Believed to be published in Fulvio Orsini, Theodoor Galle and Johannes Faber, Illustrium imagines: Ex antiquis marmoribus, nomismatibus et gemmae expressae (Antwerp, 1606), p.64, no.111, where it was incorrectly identified as PittacusM.P. de Nolhac, 'Les collections d'antiquités de Fulvio Orsini', Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire, Vol.4 (Paris, 1884), p.183, no.15
Manfred Kätzlmeier-Frank, Theodor Galles, Zeichnungen zu Fulvio Orsinis Imagines. Der Codex Capponianus 228 (Münster, 1993), pp.212ff., no.114
Marion van der Meulen, ‘Rubens: Copies after the Antique’, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, Part XXIII (London, 1995), vol.II, p.237f., no.209, and vol.III, figs.425-426 illustrates both Galle's drawing (Vatican Library, Codex Capponianus 228) and an anonymous copy of this drawing which was retouched by Rubens (Musée du Louvre, drawing no.209)
