mar 28, 230 - Marble portrait bust of Severus Alexander

Description:

The young emperor Severus Alexander (r. A.D. 222–235) is wearing a toga contabulata, with a large overfold (sinus) across the chest and a diagonal fold extending over the left shoulder and down the back. The type is distinctive of later Roman portraits in which the subject is shown in the formal civic dress. The head, carved with great skill and sensitivity, combines a sense of growing maturity and power with a still visible youthful delicacy.