You are on page 1of 10

The Portrait Medallions of the Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase

Author(s): Maxwell L. Anderson


Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 91, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), pp. 127-135
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/505462
Accessed: 14-07-2015 15:35 UTC
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/505462?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal
of Archaeology.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Portrait Medallions of the Imperial Villa


at Boscotrecase
MAXWELL L. ANDERSON
the daughter of Augustus, and Livia, his wife, and evidence is presentedto supportthese identifications.

Abstract

Since their initial mention in 1929, the two painted


portraitmedallionsin Cubiculum 15 of the imperialvilla
at Boscotrecasehave been generally assumed to depict
Agrippa, Agrippa Postumus, or anothermale memberof
the imperial family. Original photographsof the medallions before restorationsuggest that they are in fact portraits of two different women. Proposed here are Julia,

Two small portrait medallions are part of the decorative scheme of the north wall of Cubiculum 15 in the
imperial villa at Boscotrecase near Torre Annunziata
(figs. 1-3).1 Since their initial notice in print, they
have been described as likenesses of a single man.2

' The portrait medallions are each ca. 7 cm. in diameter,


and are here illustratedfrom negatives of 1926, which predate restorationand overpaintingby the Metropolitan Museum's Department of Objects Conservation. New color
photography showing the medallions after the removal of
overpainting,as well as three hithertounknownpanels from
Cubiculum 15 identified by the author in the storeroomsof
the Naples National Museum in May of 1985, will be published in a 1987 issue of BMMA.
2 The wall
paintings from Boscotrecasewere first pub-

pei2 (Pompeii 1954) 344-49; P.H. von Blanckenhagenand


C. Alexander, The Paintings from Boscotrecase (RM-EH 6,

Heidelberg 1962); K. Schefold, VergessenesPompeji (Bern


and Munich 1962) 59-65, 69; M. Cagiano de Azevedo,
ArchCl 15 (1963) 133-35; W.J.T. Peters, Landscape in Romano-Campanian Mural Painting (Assen 1963) 69-73, 92,

93, 112-13, pl. 24, fig. 97; K. Schefold, AJA 69 (1965)


286-87; F. Birren, History of Color in Painting (New York

1965) 17; K.M. Phillips, Jr., AJA 72 (1968) 3-4; P.H. von
Blanckenhagen,RM 75 (1968) 106-43; T.B.L. Webster,

lished privately in Fouilles execute'es par M. le Chev. Ernest


Santini a Boscotrecase, endroit nomme "Rota" (1905). This
was followed by M. Della Corte, Sumbolae litterariae in ho-

Monuments Illustrating New Comedy (London 1969) 191,

norem Iulii de Petra (Naples 1911) 216-21; M. Della


Corte, Neapolis 2 (1914) 173-74; M. Della Corte, NSc

1970) 85, 112, 213-14, 231-32; E. Simon, Gnomon 44


(1972) 195-99; K. Schefold, Wort und Bild (Basel 1975)
119; J.J. Rossiter, Roman Farm Buildings in Italy (BAR
InternationalSeries 52, Oxford 1978) 41, fig. 12; J. WardPerkins and A. Claridge,Pompeii A.D. 79 (Boston 1978) 1,
26-27, II, 161-65; P.N. Boulter, in Studiesin ClassicalArt
and Archaeology(Locust Valley, N.Y. 1979) 254, n. 22; A.
Casale and A. Bianco, Antiqua Suppl. 15 (1979) 33, fig. 7;

247; C.M. Dawson, ArtB 32 (1970) 307-309; J.H.


D'Arms, Romans on the Bay of Naples (Cambridge, Mass.

1922, 459-78; Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans (New

York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1925) 22 (1933


and 1941 editions, p. 26); M. Rostovtzeff,Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire (Oxford 1926) 496, n.

31 (2nd ed. [1957] vol. 2, 553, n. 31); Handbookof the Classical Collection (New York 1927 and 1930) 318-19. The
medallionswere first mentionedby C. Alexander, in MMS
1 (1929) 176-86; the left one is illustratedas fig. 3 on p. 178.
Miss Alexander there refers to the medallions as enclosing
"male portrait heads in profile, apparently the two sides of
the same face .... The face has the look of the Julio-Claudian house, which was in power when the third style was
prevalent"(p. 178). Following Alexander'sarticlein MMS,
the paintings were published in the following sources:G.E.

F. Bastet and M. de Vos, Archeologische StudiMn van het


Nederlands Instituut te Rome 4 (The Hague 1979) 8-9,
45-47; M. de Vos, L'egittomania in pitture e mosaici roma'
no-campani della prima et imperiale. Etudes prdliminaires
aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 24 (Leiden

1980) 5-8, pl. 2.2; E.W. Leach, RM 88 (1981) 307-27;


LIMC 1 (1981) 778, pl. 629; H. Mielsch, ANRW 11, 12.2
(1981) 173, 196; H.B. Van der Poel, Corpus Topographi-

Rizzo, La pittura ellenistica romana (Milan 1929) 78 pl.

cum Pompeianum, Pt. 2: Toponymy (Rome 1983) 207-208,

172, 173a; R.C. Carrington,JRS 21 (1931) 110-30; R.C.


Carrington, Antiquity 8 (1934) 271, fig. 2; Metropolitan
Museum of Art Guide 1 (1934) 34 (1939, 1940, p. 40); M.

211; V. Kockel, AA (1985) 512. The sources specifically


mentioning the portrait medallions after Alexander's 1929
article are Dawson's 1944 monograph (p. 100: "we have
here portraitsof some membersof the imperialfamily");the
monograph by Blanckenhagen and Alexander (1962),
where they are discussedby Alexanderand Blanckenhagen
respectively on pp. 14 and 59; Schefold (1962), in which
Agrippa Postumus is suggestedon pp. 64-65; M. Cagiano
de Azevedo's1963 reviewof Blanckenhagenand Alexander,
in which he misinterpretsBlanckenhagen'sidentificationof
the medallions as portraitsof Agrippa and Agrippa Postu-

Della Corte, Studi Romani, Atti del V Congresso Nazionale


2 (Rome 1940) 67-68; B. Crova, Edilizia e tecnica rurale di
Roma antica (Milan 1942) 68, fig. 7; Greek Painting (New

York,The MetropolitanMuseum of Art 1944) title page, p.


4; C.M. Dawson, YCS 9 (1944) 100-101, 114, 119, 145,
187; M. Della Corte, Cleopatra, M. Antonio e Ottaviano

(Pompeii 1951) 65; K. Schefold, Pompejanische Malerei

(Basel 1952) 189; M. Della Corte, Case ed abitanti di PomAmerican Journal of Archaeology 91 (1987)

127

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

128

MAXWELL L. ANDERSON

Planning for a new installation of the wall paintings


from Boscotrecase in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art occasioned a re-examination of the portraits, with
a surprising result. Before turning to these images, a
summary of the villa's history and occupants will be
useful.3
That the villa originally belonged to Agrippa was
proven by Rostovtzeff in 1926; Blanckenhagen established that it was built in Agrippa's lifetime but deco-

Fig. 1. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,


Rogers Fund acc. no. 20.192.10. Central panel of the north
wall of the Black Room (Cubiculum15) of the imperialvilla
at Boscotrecase.

[AJA 91

rated in part after his death in 12 B.C., and most likely in the year 11.4 This date is supported by amphoras
inscribed with the names of slaves of Agrippa and of
his posthumously born son, Agrippa Postumus, as
well as a graffito apparently referring to Julia
through her relation to Augustus and Agrippa Postumus.5 There is every reason to accept the date of ca. 11
B.C. on epigraphical grounds, as well as on the stylistic evidence that the wall paintings of the cubicula are
early examples of the Third Style, which probably
originated around 15 B.C.6
One implication of this date seems to have been unexplored, and it may be critical in interpreting the villa's wall paintings. In 11 B.C., the completion and
decoration of the cubicula would have been overseen
by Agrippa's widow Julia.7 The event which may

mus (p. 133); and Schefold'sreview in AJA (1965). Alexander (1962) suggests again that they are likenesses of the
same man, but calls them "generalized,"and speculatesthat
"theymight allude to Agrippa"(p. 14); Blanckenhagenadds
later that they are portraits"ofeither Agrippaor of another
member of the imperial family" (p. 59). During a recent
conversation (April 1986) Prof. von Blanckenhagensaid
that he no longer believes them to be portraits,but rather
images of Apollo and Artemis.Schefold(1965) seems to assume that Blanckenhagenand Alexandershare his tentative
1962 identificationof the "medallion"as AgrippaPostumus,
not Agrippa, and expresseshis reservationsabout this identification(p. 286).
3 The most importantsources for the villa's history and
contents are (supra n. 2) Della Corte (1922); Della Corte
(1954) and Blanckenhagen and Alexander. Della Corte
(1954) should be used with caution, since it includes some
mistakes concerningother villas around Pompeii, but the
section dealing with inscriptionsfrom the villa of Agrippa
Postumusis sound.
4 Rostovtzeff(supra n. 2) 496, n. 31; Blanckenhagenand
Alexander(supran. 2) 9-11 (also for the stylisticdifferences
between the Second Style peristyle and the Third Style
cubicula).
I For the inscriptions,see Della Corte (supra n. 2, 1922)
477-78; Della Corte (supra n. 2, 1954) 344-49, and
Blanckenhagenand Alexander (supra n. 2) 10-11. But see
also M. Gigante, "L'Augustoirriso,"CronPomp2 (1976)
226-28.
6
Blanckenhagenand Alexander(supran. 2) 11, n. 8. Recent and unsubstantiatedattemptsto suggest a later date for
the decorationof the cubiculaare made in Bastetand de Vos
(supra n. 2) 8-9.
7 Agrippa Postumuswas only a few monthsold at the time
of the villa's completion.Schefold (supra n. 2, 1965) mentions this problem, and argues that the villa was therefore
decoratedbetween A.D. 4-7, when Agrippa Postumuswas
between 16 and 19 years old (see also Schefold[supra n. 2,
1962] 64-65). He reasonsthat if Tiberius had occupiedthe
villa along with Julia, the brick stamp from 11 B.C. should
have namedhim and not Agrippa.This placesaltogethertoo
much emphasis on the stamp, which was, in Blanckenha-

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1987]

THE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF THE IMPERIAL VILLA AT BOSCOTRECASE

129

Fig. 2. Detail of fig. 1 showing the left medallion

Fig. 3. Detail of fig. 1 showing the right medallion

have brought about plans to decorate the cubiculathe peristyle having been previously painted-was
Julia's marriage, that very year, to Tiberius.8
Julia's union with Tiberius was apparently not voluntary, but dictated by Augustus in order to set the
stage for imperial succession.9 Livia, we may assume,
was involved in the Emperor's decision to have his

daughter marry Livia's son.10 Soon after the betrothal, Tiberius was sent off to the Danube to confront the

gen's words, "apparentlya sporadicfind and not in context"


(Blanckenhagenand Alexander[supran. 2] 10-11).
It would have been unseemlyto decorateand furnish a
8
house duringa periodof mourning.On the circumstancesof
the marriage between Julia and Tiberius, see Suet. Aug.
2.63; Dio Cass. 54.31; E. La Rocca, Ara Pacis Augustae
(Rome 1983) 35-38. Concerning the suggestion that the
Villa Farnesina was decoratedon the occasion of Julia's
wedding to Agrippa, see H. Beyen in Studia C. Vollgraff

Pannonians.1'
Given Augustus' fondness for his daughter, her
close ties to his wife would certainly have been encouraged by the Emperor. Augustus was in fact at this very
time seeking to link Julia and Livia in official art: on
(Amsterdam1948) 3-21; I. Bragantiniand M. de Vos, Le
decorazioni della villa romana della Farnesina (Museo Na-

zionale Romano, Le Pitture, II.1, Rome 1982) 23, n. 11,


and referencestherein.
9 See Suet. and Dio Cass., supra n. 8.
10For an example of Livia's sway with Augustus,see Dio
Cass. 55.14-22.
11Dio Cass. 54.31.

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

MAXWELL L. ANDERSON

130

the Ara Pacis, Julia and Livia are, according to some,


arranged as symmetrical opposites on two different
sides of the monument.12 In a contemporary aes struck
in Pergamon, Livia is shown on the obverse in the
guise of Hera, and Julia is on the reverse in the guise
of Aphrodite (fig. 4).13 Livia, in turn, can only have
profited from Julia's union with her son, since she
thereby furthered his interests. Dio Cassius informs
us that Livia and Julia gave a dinner party jointly in 9
B.C. to celebrate a triumph of Tiberius. 14
Augustus' physical presence at the villa cannot be
proved, but Dio Cassius informs us that he inherited
most of Agrippa's estate, and Suetonius makes mention of the fact that Augustus ordinarily held such
property in trust if the children of the deceased were
too young to assume responsibility for it.I5 Since this is
the case with regard to Boscotrecase, as D'Arms
points out, Augustus would have been the trustee of
the villa after Agrippa's death.16

Fig. 4. Paris, BibliothequeNationale, no. 1195. Cast of an


aes from Pergamon,showing Livia as Hera on the obverse
and Julia as Aphroditeon the reverse.(Courtesyof the MetropolitanMuseum of Art)
12 La Rocca (supra n. 8) 34. This is predicatedupon the
acceptanceof the identificationsproposedby E. Simon;see
infra n. 31.

13W.H. Gross, Julia Augusta (AbhGiatt 3, no. 52, 1962)

29, n. 17; pl. 4, figs. 6-8.


14 Dio Cass. 54.2.

15 Dio Cass. 54.29.5; Suet. Aug. 66.4.

D'Arms (supra n. 2) 232.


The medallionon the left is illustratedin
Blanckenhagenand Alexander(supra n. 2) color pl. B, after
retouchingundertakenin 1959. See infra ns. 18-19.
18 On the medallions'uniqueness,see Blanckenhagenand
Alexander (supra n. 2) 59. Blanckenhagenthere cites what
he believes to be the only other example of imperial portraitureon Roman walls: Augustus as Novus Mercurius in
the stuccoceiling of the Farnesina.The identificationof Novus Mercuriusas a portraitof Augustusby O. Brendel(RM
50 [1935] 231-59) has been challenged,with the suggestion
that it representsM. Claudius Marcellusinstead.For references to the controversysurroundingthe Farnesina Mercury'sidentification,see I. Bragantiniand M. de Vos (supra
n. 8) 294 n. 14 (pl. 200).
16

17 See figs. 2-3.

[AJA 91

The two portrait medallions mentioned at the outset adorn the north wall of the villa's Bedroom 15.17
They rest on top of two slim columns framing a landscape in the center of the wall, and support an ornate
canopy. Since the medallions are the only imperial
portraits known in Roman wall painting, they merit
close attention, and the sitters' identities should be
considered with the overall decorative program and its
authors in mind.18
While decorative medallions with generalized likenesses are common in Roman wall painting, portrait
medallions of heads alone are rare. There are numerous medallions with bust-length images of male and
female figures, often divinities, generalized likenesses,
or portraits, but these are almost always shown frontally or in a three-quarter view, and have not been
identified as specific individuals.19 Images of full figures, such as the painted portrait often taken to be of
Menander in the Pompeian house that today bears his
name, form a different class.20 A small panel from
Herculaneum, now in the Naples Museum, has medallions including heads in strict profile, terminating
at the base of the neck.21 A panel from Stabia, also in
the Naples Museum, shows a bust-length portrait of a
woman on a black background.22 None of these examples is as refined as the medallions from Boscotrecase,
and the Herculaneum medallions are not portraits,
since the bearded figure at the right appears to have
two horns.
Close in setting to the Boscotrecase portraits are a
pair of bust-length images of women in profile,
framed in squares in the triclinium of the Casa dei
19Busts in
painted tondos are common in Roman wall
painting, but are ordinarily either mythologicalor generalized likenesses,and are shown in a frontalor three-quarter view; see, e.g., O. Elia, Pitture di Stabia (Naples 1957)
65, pls. 41-42, and A. Allroggen-Bedel,RM 84 (1977) 52,
pls. 22, 23.1. Portraitsin profile, like that from Stabiae (see
infra n. 22) are quite rare. See especially D.L. Thompson,
in Pompeii and the Vesuvian Landscape (Papers of a Sym-

posium Sponsoredby the ArchaeologicalInstituteof America, Washington Society, and the Smithsonian Institution
1979) 78-85.
20 For the Casa del Menandro (1.10.4), see A. Maiuri, La
Casa del Menandro e il suo tesoro di argentaria (Rome
1933); A. and M. de Vos, Pompei Ercolano Stabia (Bari

1982) 90-96.
21 Naples, Museo Nazionale inv. 9091. The diameter of
the medallionsis 11.7 cm. for the left, 11.5 cm. for the right.
A dottedline surroundsthe images.
22

Naples, Museo Nazionale inv. 9077, Pompeii A.D. 79

(Boston 1978) 123, no. 18;colorplate, vol. I, p. 20. The bust


is ca. 14 cm. in height.

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1987]

THE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF THE IMPERIAL VILLA AT BOSCOTRECASE

Fig. 5. Pompeii, Casa dei Cubicoli Floreali (I.9.5). Detail


showing the left portrait from the north wall of the triclinium. (Courtesyof the Istituto Centraleper il Catalogoe la
Documentazione,neg. no. 34979)
Cubicoli Floreali in Pompeii (fig. 5).23 The busts face
each other across a canopy similar to that resting on
the Boscotrecase portraits.24 The triclinium of the
Casa dei Cubicoli Floreali has been dated variously,
but most convincingly to a late phase of the Third
Style, and thus postdates the villa at Boscotrecase.25
The decorative elements of the room, including the
likenesses of women, are so close to elements of the
Boscotrecase paintings that they may have been directly inspired by the imperial commission. Such examples of small likenesses in profile are nonetheless
few, and none of the faces represented may be associated with any known figure of the early Empire.

131

To return to Boscotrecase's portrait medallions, one


may begin by reassessing the suggestion, offered by
Alexander in 1929, that they might depict Agrippa.26
A portrait of Julia's recently deceased husband would
surely have been inappropriate for the villa if it was
decorated on the occasion of or after Julia's marriage
to Tiberius.27 Concern over the implausibility of this
suggestion prompted a close re-examination of the
portraits and an unexpected result.
The authors of the 1962 monograph may have
studied the medallions themselves rather than the
original 1926 photographs of the portraits before restoration and overpainting (figs. 2-3).28 Clearly visible
in these photographs is the long hair of both heads,
which can only be that of women, since it is combed up
in front, and trails in thick locks down the neck of
each. A nodus and shoulder locks have always been
visible in the portrait on the right. The portrait on the
left was retouched in 1959 with the effect that the hair
and features were changed: the chin line was painted
out, the tip of the nose and the mouth were brought
closer together, and part of the long hair was covered
over, resulting in a masculine appearance. There are,
nonetheless, no contemporary images of men in the
imperial family or inner circle who arranged their
hair in this way, and the conclusion that both heads
are female seems unavoidable.
Further examination makes it apparent that these
are not likenesses of a single person, but of two women, a younger woman on the left, and an older woman
on the right. The medallion portrait on the left shows
a face looking right. The sitter's blonde hair is puffed
up in front, swept back loosely behind the ears, and
allowed to fall about the neck, almost as far down as
the clavicles. The wide, doe-like eyes and weak chin
combine with the hair to give the woman a youthful
appearance. The bust of the sitter is scallop-shaped
below, and in front is a pair of light, yellow brush-

zeichnis der Bildmotiv(Berlin 1957) 38; K. Schefold(supra


n. 2, 1962) 140-41, 155, 196, 199; W.J.T. Peters (supra n.
2) 85-86, 112-13; 179; H. Eschebach,Die Baugeschichte

25 Most scholarsagree that the tricliniumdates to the late


Third Style; Schefold (supra n. 2, 1962) 199 considersit a
Vespasianiccopy of a painting from the millennium'sturn.
26
Alexander(supra n. 2, 1929) 178.
27 On the
inappropriatenessof including portraitsof past
membersof the imperial family in the Ara Pacis, see J. Pol-

der stabianer Thermen, RM-EH

lini, Studies in Augustan "Historical" Reliefs (Diss. Univer-

23
On the Casa dei Cubicoli Floreali (I.9.5), also known as
the Casa del Frutteto, see A. Maiuri, BdA 37 (1952) 6-12;

K. Schefold, Die Wiinde Pompejis, Topographisches Ver-

17 (Heidelberg

1970)

120; H. Sichtermann,AntW 5.3 (1974) 41-51; H. Sichtermann, in Forschungen und Funde, Festschrift Bernhard
Neutsch (Innsbruck 1980) 457-61; Pitture e pavimenti di

Pompei I (Rome 1981) 97 (III style phase IIB).


24 For the
painted busts in profile, see GabinettoFotografico Nazionale, neg. nos. N34971 and N34979. The painted
squares containingthe busts are 21 cm. high, and 2.245 m.
from the floor.

sity of Californiaat Berkeley 1978) 121.


28The left medallion (fig. 2) was, as mentionedabove (n.
2), illustratedin Alexander'sarticle of 1929; the right medallion (fig. 3) was heretoforeillustrated only in Schefold
(supra n. 2, 1962) pl. 42. Since their cleaning in the spring
of 1985, the medallionshave regainedsome of their original
appearance.

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

132

MAXWELLL. ANDERSON

strokes which may allude to the acanthus-leaf supports frequently given bust-length portraits in the
round, such as an under life-size bronze portraitbust
in the Metropolitan Museum.29
The medallionportraitat right has suffereda vertical crackrunning to the left of its center,which slightly disfigures the image of the sitter. This figure has
her hair arranged in a nodus in front, somewhat
shorter hair combed back behind the ear, and a long
shoulderlock down the side of the neck. The profileis
quite distinct: the nose projectsout slightly from the
bridgeon down, whereas in the portraiton the left, the
line of the nose is parallel to that indicatingthe forehead. Allowing for the portrait's separation into
halves because of the vertical crack,the sitter's face is
rounder and slightly more heavy-set than that of the
medallion at left. The jaw line is longer and the bust
below, although scallop-shaped, appears more solid.
The eye is shown almost frontally,with both the inner
and the outer cornersvisible, whereas that of the lefthand portraitis shown in profile. In addition,the eyebrow arches, whereas that on the left is composedof a
single diagonal line extending down from the bridge
of the nose.
In sum, the hairstyles show the medallion heads to
be female, and the featuressuggest that the woman on
the left, with her longer, more tousled hair, slimmer
face, wide-eyed expression, and unarchedeyebrow, is
younger than the woman at right.
Once it has been acceptedthat these are portraitsof
two different women, the subjects'identities may be
considered.As mentionedabove,it was in 11 B.C. that
Julia was wed to Tiberius, an event in which Livia
must have had a hand. These two women were at the
time 28 and 47 years old respectively.After consider-

29

Acc.no. 52.11.6; C. Alexander,BMMA 11 (1952-1953)

168-71; H. Jucker, Das Bildnis im Blidtterkelch (Lausanne

and Freiburg 1961) 49-51, V. Poulsen, Les portraits romains I (Copenhagen 1962) 75.
30 See supra n. 12.

The figure identified as Julia on the Ara Pacis by E.


Simon is no. 35 of the north frieze according to Pollini's
numbering system; see E. Simon, Ara Pacis Augustae(Tilbingen 1967) 21; Pollini (supra n. 27) 112; La Rocca (supra
n. 8) 34. The identificationis still open to question.
32See Gross (supra n. 13) pl. 4, figs. 6-8, and p. 29, n. 17. I
wish to thank M. Amandry of the Bibliotheque Nationale
for having casts of the coins made.
13EspeciallyfollowingJulia's marriageto Tiberius, when
Livia's relation to Julia was strengthened. Augustus divorcedScriboniain 38, "pertaesus... morum perversitatem
eius" (Suet. Aug. 62.2); from that point on, Julia's relation
to Livia must have been encouragedby the Emperor.
34 On portraitsof Livia, see especially:J.J. Bernoulli,
R631

[AJA91

ing the limited number of women whose portraits


would be appropriatein this setting, it is my contention that the portraitmedallionsof Boscotrecasedepict
Julia and Livia.
Julia and Livia may be linked on the Ara Pacis of
13-9 B.C., as mentioned above.30The monument is
unfortunatelyof limited use in making a comparison
with the paintedportraitsof Boscotrecase,since, apart
from its being an officialmonumentratherthan a private one, the portrait presumed to depict Julia lacks
the head.3'More pertinentto the paintedportraitsare
works on a smaller scale. The aes from Pergamon
(fig. 4) is apt, but the portraitsof Livia and Julia are
not sufficientlydetailed to providemore than an indication that the nodus coiffurewas then in use by both
women, and that Livia wears the shoulderlock, while
Julia does not.32For comparandawe must turn to individual portraits of each, bearing in mind the fact
that Augustus was encouraging their association in
public portraitureduring this period.33
Images of Livia in profile are abundant.34We may
look among coins or gems; the latter provide larger,
more detailed likenesses, and are private rather than
official portraits."3They thus offer a surer basis for
comparison.Gem portraitsgenerallyacknowledgedto
depict Livia in Berlin, Florence, The Hague (fig. 6),
Boston, Paris (fig. 7), and Rome all share the facial
features of the right Boscotrecasemedallion.36In the
gems, as in the painted portrait, the profile shows a
large nose, an arched eyebrow, a large eye often
shown frontally, with both corners visible, fleshy
cheeks and a full neck, pursed lips, and a small chin.
For the whole portrait, the cameo in The Hague
(fig. 6) is useful, since it sharesmuch in the featuresof
the face, and has the hair brushedup into a nodus in

mische Ikonographie: Die Bildnisse der r6mischen Kaiser

II.1 (Berlin and Stuttgart 1886) 83-109; Poulsen (supra n.


29) 65-75; Gross (supra n. 13); H. Bartels, Studien zum
Frauenportrdt

der augusteischen

Zeit (Munich

1963)

29-72; H. von Heintze, rev. of Gross, AJA 68 (1964)


318-20; B. Freyer-Schauenburg,BonnJbb182 (1982) 20924, and referencestherein.
35 See esp. M.-L. Vollenweider, Die Steinschneidekunst
und ihre Kunstler in spaitrepublikanischer und augustei-

scher Zeit (Baden-Baden1966).


36 For the cameo in The Hague, see Vollenweider (supra
n. 35) pl. 84.1; for the cameo in Boston, pl. 86.1; for the
sardonyxin Rome, pl. 73.7; for the sardonyxin the Cabinet
des Medailles, pl. 74.1; for the carnelianin Berlin, pl. 75.1,
3; for the cameo in Florence, pl. 76.4. The fact that both
painted portraitbusts are undrapedis not surprising,since
they may play on the theme of Livia and Julia as Hera and
Aphrodite,promulgatedat this time by Augustus in the aes
from Pergamon(fig. 4). Bust-lengthimagesof female divin-

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1987]

THE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF THE IMPERIAL VILLA AT BOSCOTRECASE

133

baum identifies the woman on the gaming chip as


Livia, relyingon the fact establishedby Grossthat it is
only Livia, in this period,who wears a shoulderlock.
This is thereforeadditionalevidencefor the identification of the painted medallions as Livia and Julia,
since the right portrait bears the shoulder lock, and
the left one does not.40
The lead tessera of Julia in Rome's Museo Nazionale has deterioratedto such an extent that her profile
is difficultto make out; since it is, by virtue of its inscription,the only securelyidentifiedportraitof Julia
other than on coins, we are left to compareimages of
Julia's father Augustus in profile, as first recommended by Bernoulli, but this is an unsatisfactory

Fig. 6. The Hague, KoninklijkKabinet van Munten Penningen en Gesneden Stenen. Cameo portrait of Livia.
(Courtesyof The Hague)
front, and back over the top of the ears, with locks
against the side of the neck, although it lacks the
shoulder lock present in the painted version, which is
present in other images of Livia, such as the cameo in
the Bibliotheque Nationale (fig. 7).37
Portraits of Julia are rare, owing largely to her
banishment, in 2 B.C., for licentious conduct.38 The
few portraits which deserve consideration were published by Grimm in 1973. One example which is sufficiently clear to permit comparison with the Boscotrecase medallions is a bone gaming chip in Alexandria's
Greek-Roman Museum (fig. 8).39 The profile on the
gaming chip has in common with that of the left
painted medallion of Boscotrecase a straight line running from the brow to the tip of the nose. The hairstyle is nonetheless that of the right medallion, sharing
a nodus in front and shoulder locks. Alf6ldi-Rosen-

Fig. 7. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Bab. 232a. Cameo


portraitof Livia (the Cam&eRoger). (Courtesyof the Bibliotheque Nationale)

ities on Augustan gems are routinely shown undraped;see,


for example, Venus, Ceres and Artemis (Vollenweider[supra n. 35] pls. 8.7, 44.1, and 52.4). In any event,bust-length
femaleportraitsare occasionallyundrapedat this time, as in
the case of a bronze portrait in the MetropolitanMuseum
(supra n. 20).
37Vollenweider (supra n. 35) 73, n. 58; 64, n. 90. I thank
Dr. J.P.A. van der Vin of The Hague for providinga photograph. For portraits of Livia with the shoulder lock, see
Gross (supra n. 13) 63.
38 On Julia's life, see MacrobiusSat. 2.5; Dio Cass. 54.10;
Suet. Aug. 63-65; E. Meise, Untersuchungenzur Geschichte der julisch-claudischen Dynastie (Vestigia 10, 1969)

3-34; L.F. Raditsa, ANRW 11.13 (1980) 290-95. A close


comparisonmay be found in a denariusof 13 B.C., with a
portraitof Julia on the reversein the guise of Diana: M.D.
Fullerton, in AJA 89 (1985) 476, pl. 55, fig. 10. On epigraphicalreferencesto portraitsof Julia, see C. Hanson and
F.P. Johnson, AJA 50 (1946) 394-95.
3"G. Grimm, RM 80 (1973) pls. 86.1 and 87.1. I thank
Dr. YoussefEl-Ghiriamiof the Greek-RomanMuseum for
sending a photograph.See E. Alf61di-Rosenbaumin Eikones, Studienzum griechischenund ramischenBildnis (Basel
1980) 29-39, esp. 29, no. 8, pl. 9.1, where an identification
of the counteras Livia ratherthan Julia is favored.
40
These seemat firstto be the ends of a taenia or fillet, but

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

134

MAXWELL L. ANDERSON

Fig. 8. Alexandria,Greek-RomanMuseum, inv. no. 23869.


Bone gaming chip with a portraitof Livia. (Courtesyof the
Greek-RomanMuseum)
method.41 Other portraits, such as a gem cited by Bernoulli and one in Hannover cited by Vollenweider, remain no more than candidates.42
Alternative identifications for portraits in this setting cannot include Julia's mother Scribonia, since
Augustus' loathing of Scribonia makes this improbable, although we have no firmly attested images of
Scribonia.43 Antonia Minor might be considered for
the portrait medallion on the left, but she does not belong in this setting, and the profile of the medallion
bears little relation to that of her portraits.44 In any
event, the medallions seem clearly to be of women
from the imperial family of this period, and attempts
to identify them as divinities, such as Apollo and
Diana, cannot explain the unmistakable allusion to
the coiffure and features of the Empress Livia in the
right medallion. In this private setting, the distinctions
between portraiture and personification are blurred,
just as they are in contemporary cameo portraits and

are almost certainlyjust stylized locks of hair, since women


did not wear fillets this long; Alf6ldi-Rosenbaum(supra
n. 39) 31.

41 Grimm
(supra n. 39) 279-82, pl. 87.2; Bernoulli (supra
n. 34) 128.
42 Bernoulli
(supra n. 34) 127, pl. 27.10; Antike Gemmen

in deutschen Sammlungen 4 (Wiesbaden 1975) 216, no.


1092; Hannover inv. no. K813.
43 On Scribonia, see Suet. Aug. 62.2; R. Syme, The Roman
Revolution (Oxford 1939) 213, 229; E.F. Leon, TAPA
1951, 168. Scribonia might have died before a canonical
likeness of her was made; in any case, Augustus detested her
so much by 11 B.C. that it is inconceivable that she should
be commemorated in the villa where he and Livia were
welcome.
44 On portraits of Antonia Minor, see K. Polaschek, Studien zur Ikonographie der Antonia Minor (StArch 15,
Rome 1973); K. Fittschen, Katalog der antiken Skulpturen

[AJA 91

in the equally decorativestucco likeness in the Villa


Farnesina, and we cannot expect a clear and literal
likenessin a small paintedimage.45But sincethe right
medallion, at least, shares so much with extant portraits, and since there are no other women in the imperial family whom we would expect to find commemoratedin this villa, the first suggestion,of Julia
and Livia, is the most attractive.46
These new identificationsof the portrait medallions, if accepted, would provide fascinating insight
into the private lives of the imperial family, since we
are here projectedbackto a time nine yearsbeforeJulia's disgrace and exile for adulterous conduct in 2
B.C. It shouldnot surpriseus that Julia's portraitwas
not removedin 2 B.C.;by then the villa may havebeen
administeredfor the imperial family by freedmen.47
This is no official portraitbut a small private image
which would not have attractedattentionoutside the
family.
Bearingthese suggestedidentificationsin mind, we
may note their connectionto the other decorativeelements of Cubiculum 15, the Black Room. Alexander
rightlymentionsthe relationof the BlackRoom to the
so-calledCasa di Livia and Agrippa'sVilla Farnesina
in its relianceon a single unifyingcolor-black, in this
case-which is accentedby delicatearchitecturalelements.48In its decorativeschemeas well it recallswall
paintings in Augustus' house on the Palatine and the
Villa Farnesina.49Blanckenhagenalso notes the presence, in the Black Room, of "swansholding a fillet in
their beakslike those in the acanthusscrollsof the Ara
Pacis";this is an early and perhapsseminal use of the
motif which later appears in the Casa di Cerere
(I.9.13) at Pompeii.50
In reviewing the Black Room's decoration, one
should call attentionto Della Corte'soriginaldescripin SchlossErbach(AF 3, 1977) 58-62; K.P. Erhart,AJA 82
(1978) 193-212.
45See supra n. 18.
46 There are no other women in the imperial family who
bear a direct blood relation to Julia, the mistress of the
house, since she was an only child, except her aunt Octavia
Maior, who, accordingto Plutarch (Ant. 87), orchestrated
the marriageof Julia and Agrippa, and would have had no
great investmentin Julia's new bethrothalto Tiberius.
47 See Della Corte (supra n. 2, 1954) 345.
48 Blanckenhagenand Alexander(supra n. 2) 53, n. 81.
49 Blanckenhagenand Alexander (supra n. 2) 20, 26-29,
30, 34, 54. See, on the House of Augustus, F. Coarelli,
Roma2(Guide archeologicheLaterza, Bari 1981) 129, and
infra n. 53.
50oBlanckenhagenand Alexander (supra n. 2) 14. For the
Casa di Cerere (I.9.13) see Bastet and de Vos (supra n. 2)
30-31, and M. de Vos, Meded 38 (1976) 37.

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1987]

THE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF THE IMPERIAL VILLA AT BOSCOTRECASE

tion in his 1922 excavation report of the Black


Room."IThe mosaicfloorwas quite simple:altogether
white, with a 92 cm. squarepatternin the cubiculum's
center composed of nine hexagons demarcatedwith
blacktesserae.There was anotherplain blackgeometric pattern, smaller still, at the bedroom'sentrance.52
The contents of Cubiculum 15, described by Della
Corte, are not especially illuminating, since they date
not from the time of the villa's occupationby the imperial family but from the succeedinggeneration.53
Apart from the cubiculum's decorative simplicity
and its important situation in relation to the other
bedrooms,being the easternmost,it includes the only
two portraitsof membersof the imperial family identifiable as such in all of Roman wall painting. It also
incorporates,on the north wall, the above-mentioned
swans, a distinctiveemblem linked directlyto Augustus after his victoryat Actium and to the Ara Pacis, a
monument under constructionat the time of the pre-

51 Della

Corte (supra n. 2, 1922) 468-70.


Della Corte (supra n. 2, 1922) 469.
53Della Corte (supra n. 2, 1922) 470.
54 Swans are sacredto Apollo, and are symbolslinked specifically to Augustus following his victory at Actium:
Blanckenhagen and Alexander (supra n. 2) 14; Schefold
(supra n. 2, 1962) 64. For the relationof Augustus to Apollo, see E. Simon, JdI 93 (1978) 202-27. See also the swans
in the House of Augustuson the Palatine:G. Carettoni,RM
90 (1983) 405, figs. 12-13, color pl. 14.2. Swans are later a
common decorativemotif in Pompeian painting; examples
in the Naples Museum are inv. nos. 8715, 8774, 9597, and
9820. An additional pair have the inventorynumbers 8560
52

135

sumed decorationof the Boscotrecasecubicula by a


workshopfromthe capital.54 The painted Egyptianizing plaques of the Black Room reveal the contemporary concernsof fashion and imperial iconographyin
the same informalway as the medallions;the Egyptomania that swept Campania in the first century B.C.
is here especially appropriate,given Augustus' construction of the SolariumAugusti in front of the Ara
Pacis, which effectivelymarshalled Egyptian culture
and science in the service of Rome.55The decorative
details of Cubiculum 15 thus coherein a playful manner with the intentionallylimited perspective,miniature landscapes,and improbablearchitecturalforms,
creating a teasing ensemble which must have delighted visitorsto this sumptuousimperial residence.
DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN ART
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
FIFTH AVENUE AT 82ND STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10028

and 9786. See also supra n. 50. For a fuller sense of the
importanceof imperial patronageboth at Boscotrecaseand
in neighboring villas, see Della Corte (supra n. 2, 1954)
344-74, and E.W. Leach, in Literary and Artistic
Patronage in Ancient Rome (Austin 1982) 135-73. On the

problemof "Studius"or "Ludius"and the Roman workshop


which was probably responsiblefor the decorationof this
villa, see Peters (supran. 2) 4; R. Ling,JRS 67 (1977) 1-16;
Bragantiniand de Vos (supra n. 8) 22-23, 337.
55 On Egyptomania,see de Vos (supra n. 2, 1980). On the
Solarium Augusti, see E. Buchner,Die Sonnenuhrdes Augustus (Mainz 1982).

This content downloaded from 83.244.229.90 on Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:35:42 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

You might also like