This marble sculpture of Hadrian is 68 inches tall and originally also featured his wife. It is located in the Louvre's Roman Antiquities Room and the Museum's website (
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"This group reproduced the features of the imperial couple formed by Hadrian and his wife, before the head of Sabine is replaced in the late second century by another portrait, probably that of Lucille, the wife of Lucius Verus. It reflects the taste and the Hellenistic neoclassical style popular at that time. Hadrian (117-138. BC), first Roman emperor to be figured god in his lifetime, is represented by Mars, the god of war.
An imperial couple: Hadrian and Sabina
Discovered in Rome near Santa Maria Maggiore, just before 1620, this group entered the Louvre after its purchase by Napoleon to Prince Camillo Borghese in 1807. Executed in the early second century AD. AD, it originally represented the couple formed by the Emperor Hadrian and his wife Sabine. But at a later date and for unknown reasons, the group has been retouched. The head of the female figure has been changed and replaced by another ancient portrait: the facial features and hair, which is a vital clue in dating Roman portraits, allow to recognize an effigy of the late second century , probably a portrait of Lucille, the wife of Emperor Lucius Verus (161-169 AD. AD). If this is indeed the case, Lucille would have reused this group in honor of her late husband: she would have substituted his portrait and that of Sabine is trivialized the face of Hadrian into a generic figure to erect at Lucius Verus rank of a god. But the assembly could be modern.
Mythology in the service of imperial propaganda
Hadrian was the first Roman emperor to have been featured in god during his lifetime. Until then, members of the Imperial family had access to this honor, and earned immortality after their death. The couple is here equated with Mars and Venus lovers, the gods of War and Love, according to a model that should probably look at the time of Augustus, a group created by Pasiteles, Greek sculptor installed Rome. The image of Hadrian is more idealized than Sabine. The emperor is depicted in heroic nudity, equipped with military attributes of Mars: the crested helmet, harness, sword and armor, deposited on the tree trunk that serves as a prop in Fig. This allegorical portrait, for the imperial propaganda, the apparent role of the emperor Hadrian established itself as the guarantor of peace and prosperity of the Empire.
References to Greek art
This ideology is served by overt references to Greek art. During his reign between 117 and 138 AD. AD, Hadrian favors a return to Greek classicism in the arts and letters. This group therefore fully reflects this policy and renewal Philhellene néoattiques creations. By its weight and its coldness, the portrait of Hadrian builds on the athletic figures of the classical period, such as the March of Alcamenes (late fifth century BC.). The female figure in turn keeps the memory of half-naked Aphrodites of the fourth century BC. BC and the Hellenistic period, in line with the works of Praxiteles. The general attitude of the goddess reminiscent of the Venus of Capua (Naples Museum). The motive of the drapery, that glides on the hips, is comparable to the unveiling of the Venus de Milo (399 Ma). The sculptor, however, covered the nakedness of the bust, indecent for the wife of the Emperor."
An additional photo of the piece can be seen at (
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Wikipedia (
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"...is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in all his tastes. He was the third of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus to an ethnically Italian family in Italica near Seville. His predecessor Trajan was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father. Trajan never officially designated an heir, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death. Trajan's wife and his friend Licinius Sura were well-disposed towards Hadrian, and he may well have owed his succession to them.
During his reign, Hadrian traveled to nearly every province of the Empire. An ardent admirer of Greece, he sought to make Athens the cultural capital of the Empire and ordered the construction of many opulent temples in the city. He used his relationship with his Greek favorite Antinous to underline his philhellenism and led to the creation of one of the most popular cults of ancient times. He spent extensive amounts of his time with the military; he usually wore military attire and even dined and slept amongst the soldiers. He ordered military training and drilling to be more rigorous and even made use of false reports of attack to keep the army alert. Upon his ascension to the throne, Hadrian withdrew from Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia and Armenia, and even considered abandoning Dacia. Late in his reign he suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judaea, renaming the province Syria Palaestina. In 136 an ailing Hadrian adopted Lucius Aelius as his heir, but the latter died suddenly two years later. In 138, Hadrian resolved to adopt Antoninus Pius if he would in turn adopt Marcus Aurelius and Aelius' son Lucius Verus as his own eventual successors. Antoninus agreed, and soon afterward Hadrian died at Baiae."