PORTRAIT OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN I (364—375 AD)
The plaster cast was based on a life-size portrait made of white limestone, which was discovered in a Late Roman watchtower in the vicinity of Visegrád. As the fourth century AD imperial portraits in general, this one is schematic as well, not depicting any personal features. It was this simplification in the late imperial portrait sculpture that made it possible to transform the head of a woman’s tomb statue into an imperial portrait in the second part of the fourth century. The feminine form of the mouth was removed, the face and eyebrows were given a strong masculine character, though the earrings and the hairnet can still be observed on the statue. These were not visible on the re-carved imperial portrait, since it was walled in above the entrance of the watchtower up to the hairline.
The exhibited copy was made of the sandstone copy held in the Aquincum Museum, Budapest in 2021.
