Severan Family Tondo
Title
Severan Family Tondo
Date
ca. 200 AD
Artist or Workshop
Unknown
Materials
Tempera paint on wood
Height of the work
30.5 cm diameter
Provenience
Djemila, Egypt
Current Location
Staatliche Museum, Antikensammlung, Berlin, Germany
Description and Significance
Description:
The Severan Family Tondo is a circular piece of wood, with jagged edges on the top left perimeter. Within the circle are four individuals; two taller and larger individuals standing in the background, with two much shorter and smaller figures standing before them. The figure standing in the background to the left is a woman, who is only partially visible because of the figure standing in front of her. Her brown hair is parted in the middle, and hangs to just below her jawline. It has a striped pattern to it, and frames three circular earrings that are hung from non-visible ears. She has almond shaped eyes and straight eyebrows. Her lips are small and her mouth is taut. Around her neck hangs a string of white pearls. On her head rests a halo-shaped crown that is adorned with white and green jewels. To her right is a male figure, which a large face and round, high cheekbones. He has dark skin and wide brown eyes. He as well is wearing a crown with golden leaves and a large red jewel in the center, and two white jewels lateral to the center. His hair is beige and peppered with grey. He has a long, curly beard that reaches to the midpoint of his neck. His beard is made of corkscrews that meet in the center of his chin and face inward towards each other. In front of him stands a mal child, who reaches the man’s collarbones. He has dark hair that is also surrounded by a crown of golden leaves, with a red jewel in the center and green jewels to the side. There is a fourth figure standing in front of the woman, but where the face is located, all the paint is scraped off. All of the figures are wearing gold, white, and brown tunics, and can only be seen from the chest up.
Significance:
This piece stands out not only because of its unusual circular shape, but also because it gives modern viewers a glimpse into the political drama during the Severan Dynasty. This panel, most likely cut from a larger wall painting hung in a public space then cut to be sold, depicts the family of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. Severus, the first African Emperor of the Roman Empire, planned to split power between his two sons; Geta and Caracalla. Caracalla, displeased with this arrangement, killed Geta to consolidate power. He then issued a “damnatio memoriae”, an edict that would erase the memory of the person from art and other forms of documentation. In an effort to scrub Geta’s presence from history, the face of this family portrait was scraped off. This picture also shows his wife, Julia Domna. Her hair in this portrait (and other depictions) has the texture of a melon, with horizontal stripes that go towards the back of the head. Many art historians believe that this was a wig, or a result of traveling on campaign with her husband. Because she would be caring for soliders in battle, she would not have time to create the ornate, popular hairstyles common with the wives of other emperors. This piece is also significant because Septimius Severus is visually aligning himself with Marcus Aurelius, his successful predecessor. With long, curly hair and a grey-tinged beard made of inward facing corkscrews, he visually associates himself and highlights the succession of power without a shared ancestry.
The Severan Family Tondo is a circular piece of wood, with jagged edges on the top left perimeter. Within the circle are four individuals; two taller and larger individuals standing in the background, with two much shorter and smaller figures standing before them. The figure standing in the background to the left is a woman, who is only partially visible because of the figure standing in front of her. Her brown hair is parted in the middle, and hangs to just below her jawline. It has a striped pattern to it, and frames three circular earrings that are hung from non-visible ears. She has almond shaped eyes and straight eyebrows. Her lips are small and her mouth is taut. Around her neck hangs a string of white pearls. On her head rests a halo-shaped crown that is adorned with white and green jewels. To her right is a male figure, which a large face and round, high cheekbones. He has dark skin and wide brown eyes. He as well is wearing a crown with golden leaves and a large red jewel in the center, and two white jewels lateral to the center. His hair is beige and peppered with grey. He has a long, curly beard that reaches to the midpoint of his neck. His beard is made of corkscrews that meet in the center of his chin and face inward towards each other. In front of him stands a mal child, who reaches the man’s collarbones. He has dark hair that is also surrounded by a crown of golden leaves, with a red jewel in the center and green jewels to the side. There is a fourth figure standing in front of the woman, but where the face is located, all the paint is scraped off. All of the figures are wearing gold, white, and brown tunics, and can only be seen from the chest up.
Significance:
This piece stands out not only because of its unusual circular shape, but also because it gives modern viewers a glimpse into the political drama during the Severan Dynasty. This panel, most likely cut from a larger wall painting hung in a public space then cut to be sold, depicts the family of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. Severus, the first African Emperor of the Roman Empire, planned to split power between his two sons; Geta and Caracalla. Caracalla, displeased with this arrangement, killed Geta to consolidate power. He then issued a “damnatio memoriae”, an edict that would erase the memory of the person from art and other forms of documentation. In an effort to scrub Geta’s presence from history, the face of this family portrait was scraped off. This picture also shows his wife, Julia Domna. Her hair in this portrait (and other depictions) has the texture of a melon, with horizontal stripes that go towards the back of the head. Many art historians believe that this was a wig, or a result of traveling on campaign with her husband. Because she would be caring for soliders in battle, she would not have time to create the ornate, popular hairstyles common with the wives of other emperors. This piece is also significant because Septimius Severus is visually aligning himself with Marcus Aurelius, his successful predecessor. With long, curly hair and a grey-tinged beard made of inward facing corkscrews, he visually associates himself and highlights the succession of power without a shared ancestry.
References
Ancient History Encyclopedia Website: http://www.ancient.eu/image/2510/
Kleiner, Fred S. "The Severans." Gardener's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective, fourteenth ed., e-book, Boston, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014, pp. 219-20.
Contributor
Nora Cheung
Files
Citation
Unknown, “Severan Family Tondo,” Digital Portrait "Basket" - ARTH488A "Ancient Mediterranean Portraiture", accessed April 27, 2024, http://classicalchopped.artinterp.org/omeka/items/show/50.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.