This lifesized marble bust of Gallienus is located in the Louvre. The Museum's website (
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"This face is very characteristic of the Emperor Gallienus. Created at the beginning of his reign, when he inherited an empire weakened, this type of portrait reflects the will of the sovereign to pose as inspired leader and ruler. Instrument of authoritarian politics, this effigy is also, for the loans it makes to Greek sculpture, the testimony of a plastic-loving Emperor Hellenic culture.
The Emperor Gallienus
This head, which had become embedded in a statue or a bust, is a portrait of Gallienus, associated with power by his father Valerian in 253, and reigns alone from 261. The very physiognomy characterized indeed leaves no doubt as to the identity of the person represented: broad forehead, an aquiline nose, upper lip to the "drop" very pronounced, are traits common in portraits and coins issued under the reign of Gallienus.
The portrait as a tool of a political program
This type of portrait was created when Galen finds himself alone in power after his father was taken prisoner by the Persians. In an empire in crisis, whose unity is threatened by the incursions of barbarians at the borders and the usurpation of power in some provinces, Gallien wants to restore the power of the imperial office.
This desire seems to be fully expressed in these portraits where he poses as authoritarian and resolved. The look inspired, lifted to the sky, gives it a superhuman: Gallien appears as the enlightened leader who will restore order and prosperity to his people. The portrait then serves the political aspirations of the Emperor broadcasted throughout the empire through statues or coins, it is a propaganda tool.
The "renaissance galliénique"
The reign of Gallienus is marked by a return to the Hellenic taste. The emperor, imbued with Greek culture, wants Philhellene as was Hadrian he is interested in the neo-Platonic philosophy of Plotinus and was initiated into the mysteries of Eleusis. This renewed interest in Greek culture is evident in portraiture by characteristics - hair and swollen eyes raised to heaven - that are reminiscent of the effigies of the successors of Alexander the Great. Moreover, the composition clear and structured head evokes classicist art and portraits of Augustus deified.
Meanwhile, there is a tendency to oversimplification, sensitive treatment of the hair, just detailed, and geometric shapes - faces, quadrangular, is highly structured. The orientation of the art to more abstract forms, which appears in the imperial portraits in the third century, is here to serve a sublimation of the Emperor which she accentuates the face compelling."
Wikipedia (
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"...took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis. His record in dealing with those crises is mixed, as he won a number of military victories but was unable to keep much of his realm from seceding...
Gallienus has not been dealt with well by ancient historians,[48] partly due to the secession of Gaul and Palmyra and his inability to get them back. According to the modern scholar Pat Southern, however, some historians now see him in a more positive light. Gallienus was the father of some useful reforms. His contribution to military history was the first commissioning of a cavalry only unit which could be dispatched anywhere within the Empire within short order. This reform arguably created a precedent for the future emperors Diocletian and Constantine I.
The biographer Aurelius Victor also reports that Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable equestrian commanders rose to prominence. In Southern's opinion, these reforms and the decline in senatorial influence not only helped Aurelian to salvage the Empire, but they also make Gallienus one of the emperors most responsible for the creation of the dominate, along with Septimius Severus, Diocletian and Constantine I."