Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum

B 159
Pompey. Copenhagen

Portrait head of the Roman general Pompey (b. 106 BC- d. 48 BC). Probably from the tomb of the Licinii Crassi in Rome.

Marble
Head
25 cm

Purchased from Count Tyskiewicz’s collection in Rome through mediation of Helbig in 1887. According to Helbig, the portrait was discovered in 1885 at the family tomb of the Licinii Crassi near Porta Pia.
Denmark, Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 733
Early first century AD version of a portrait created ca. 50 BC

Preservation:
The head is broken through the neck. The rims of both ears are cracked and there are minor scratches on the face and chips in the hair. A restorer between 1884-1887 fitted the head to a modern bust; in 1948 the ancient head was separated from that bust. The bust has now been lost. The Ashmolean cast seems to depict it, at least partially.

Description:
The head is broken off from its original object at the neck, just under the chin. It originally turned to its left as creases on the left side of the neck show. The head depicts a clean-shaven male of middle age with a cowlick at the center of the brow. The face has a round shape. It reaches its widest point at the high cheekbones. The cheeks then taper to a short chin. The convex forehead is framed by an arching hairline. The forehead features three parallel creases which dip at the center of the brow. The lightly engraved eyebrows have a high arch. Below them are very small eyes with heavy upper lids. The nose is narrow at its base but the ends in a bulbous tip. The cheeks are full. They create deep naso-labial folds, jowls, and indentations above the naso-labial folds. The width of the mouth is proportionately appropriate. It has an overbite and the lips are thin and tightly pressed together. The upper corners of the lips rise slightly and create small puckers in the cheeks. The chin is especially round and juts forward abruptly below the lower lip. The hair of the portrait is straight and of medium length. Without a part it falls naturally in layers from the crown and is cut around the ears. A small sideburn falls in front of both ears. Near the face some of the layers are pushed back while others come forward; this change of direction is visible over both ears. Directly over the nose, at the center of the brow, is a pronounced anastole (or cowlick), locks of hair that rise straight upwards. After their initial rise, most of the locks fall to the right and a few to the left. The locks around this anastole, rather than flatten the peaking locks, sit atop the rise. This creates a triangular peak of hair over the center of the brow.

Discussion:
This well preserved portrait had represents Cn. Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), the Roman general who lived between 106 BC and 48 BC. It is said to have been found in the tomb of the Licinii Crassi in Rome; this tomb is discussed in more detail in cat.no. B 164. Coins minted after Pompey’s death feature portraits identified by a legend as Pompey. These coin portraits correspond so closely to the Copenhagen head that there can be no doubt as to the identity. The coins which bear the most striking resemblance to the Copenhagen head are those minted in Sicily between 38 and 36 BC by Q. Masidius, a supporter of Pompey’s son. Roughly the same portrait type appears on gems and several marble portraits have a loose connection to the type. Among the marble portraits that are most commonly considered to represent Pompey are a reworked head in Venice and a probably modern head in New Haven. Other examples are either not strict copies or have been so tampered with that the connection is only vague. Because the most well known statue of Pompey was that located in his Theater in Rome, it is often said without real proof to be the model for the portrait type. The Copenhagen portrait shows a round-faced elderly man whose hair springs energetically upwards and whose brow contracts. This contrast has led to scholarly discussion about the merging of Hellenistic dynamism and Roman realism. A similar contrast is noted in the portrait type of the young Octavian, Augustus’ first portrait type. In addition, Pompey was known to have held Alexander the Great as a role model. He even adopted the name Magnus in emulation of Alexander. Plutarch (Pompey 2.1) writes that there was some element in the way Pompey’s hair sprang off his brow (anastole) and in his eyes that recalled Alexander. Thus, scholars have tended to make comparisons between Pompey’s hairstyle as represented in the Copenhagen portrait and Alexander’s. Generally Pompey is said to have consciously adopted this characteristic from the portraits of Alexander. According to Helbig the Copenhagen portrait was found with the ca.15 other portraits in the tomb of the Licinii Crassi near the Porta Pia in Rome. Because this area does seem to have belonged to the Licinii Crassi, it is likely that the portrait did come from the general area and possibly even from the tomb itself. M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, the consul of 27 AD, married a woman named Scribonia who had descended from Pompey. The first son of this M. Licinius Crassus Frugi and Scribonia, in commemoration of its famous ancestry, was named Cn. Pompeius Magnus; this son later married the Emperor Claudius’ daughter Antonia. In any case, it is clear that the Licinii Crassi were proud of their connection to Pompey and it is very probable that they would have erected a portrait monument to him. Thus, the Copenhagen head is a first century copy of an earlier portrait model. J. Lenaghan

Bibliography:
V. Poulsen, Les Portraits Romains I. République et dynastie Julienne (Copenhagen 1973) 39-41, also 101-06, no.1 pls. 1-2 catalogue entry, considers it a copy of an original ca.50 BC, information on the tomb of the Liciniani
F. Johansen, "Ritratti antichi di Cicerone e Pompeo Magno" (AnalRom 8 1977) 49-69 basic presentation of the material concerning portraits of Pompey
K. Vierneisel and P. Zanker, Die Bildnisse des Augustus. Herrscherbild und Politik in kaiserlichen Rom (Munich 1979) 86 no.8.6 catalogue entry with usual reference to Alexander the Great
L. Giuliani, Bildnis und Botschaft. Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Bildniskunst der römischen Republik (Frankfurt a. M. 1986) 56-59, 67-72 long discussion of the meaning and duality of the image of Pompey
D. Boschung, "Uberlegungen zum Licinergrab" (JdI 101 1986) 284-286 discussion of Licinii group, considers Pompey portrait evidence of the total unity of the Licinian group (this sentiment repeats that of V. Poulsen)
P. Zanker, Augustus und die Macht der Bilder (Munich 1987) 19-20 connection with Alexander, combination of Hellenistic energy (hair) and ordinary face
(M. Hofter), Kaiser Augustus und die verlorene Republik (Berlin 1988) 316-317 no.154 description of tomb group-much of group conceived at one moment, well after their deaths. Interpretive discussion of Pompeys portrait
M. Moltesen, "Neue Nasen, Neue Namen" (AA 1991) 271-272 brief note on state of preservation of Pompey
M. Trunk, "Ein ‘vergessenes’ Bilndis des Pompeius Magnus" (Boreas 17 1994) 267-275 a study of a particular replica but with introductory remarks on the whole replica series
F. Johansen, Catalogue of Roman Portraits I; Ny Carlysberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen 1994) 24-25 no.1