UQ Art Museum Learning Resource

of Portraiture of Men and Women fromthe Archaic Greek to the Late Roman Eras, circa 550Before Christ through 250 After ChristDr Amelia R. BrownLecturer in Greek History & LanguageThe University of Queensland

Seven Portraits from Ancient Greece & RomeIn Archaic Athens, a sculptor named Aristion ofParos carved these two figures out of marblearound 550 BC to be tomb markers. We don’tknow the name of the youth, or kouros, but thename of the maiden, or kore, is Phrasikleia, asher epitaph says in Ancient Greek below.(Athens, National Museum, inv. 4890-4889; found in Merenda,ancient Myrrhinous, Attica)What differences do you see between ArchaicGreek male and female portraits?What seems realistic to you? What is not?Translation of Inscription on Phrasikeia’s base:Marker of Phrasikleia: I will be called ‘maiden’forever, given this name instead of marriage bythe Gods.Aristion of Paros made me.

Seven Portraits from Ancient Greece & RomeLysippus of Sicyon: sculptor of Alexander theGreat’s portrait, from youth to adulthood(Alex. died Babylon, 323 BC, at age 33)Portrait of Alexander theGreat in the Pella Museum,from the area of Giannitsa,Macedonia; dated circa 325to 300 BC; marble, in the styleof Lysippus.Characteristics of Lysippus’style, and other Late Classicalto Hellenistic era portraits:– idealized beauty of thehuman form– realistic depiction of someindividual facial and bodilyfeatures to aid identification– twisting movement of head– upward gaze, tousledleonine hair– dead and living kings,aristocrats, athletesDiscussion Questions:How did portraiture changebetween the Archaic,Classical and Hellenistic Erasof Greek art?What does Lysippus add?

Seven Portraits from Ancient Greece & RomeOne of our best sources for themes andchanges in portraits in Antiquity is coins, withportrait ‘heads’ from the 6th C. BC onwards.Coins of the Successors of Alexander theGreat often bear his portrait, or a Successorportrait imitating Lysippus.UQ Antiquities Museum Coin 19 LysimachusTetradrachm (306-281 BC)Obverse: Alexander the GreatReverse: Athena with Nike.Discussion Questions:How are these portraits different from thosein stone? What do they tell you about theperson who is depicted?How are they similar and different frommodern Australian coin portraits?UQ Antiquities Museum Coin 30 Antiochus IVTetradrachm (175-164 BC)Obverse: King Antiochus IVReverse: Olympian Zeus with Nike.

Seven Portraits from Ancient Greece & RomeUQ Antiquities Museum 92.004: A Roman Matron’s Tomb MarkerThe Romans conquered Greecein the late Hellenistic era, andadopted many cultural traits fromthe Greeks, including traditionsof portrait coinage and sculpture.Roman sculptors though, like theanonymous carver of this femalehead in the 1st C., introducedRoman ideas about clothing,realism, and family memorials.Discussion Questions:How is this woman similarto Phrasikleia? How is shedifferent?What techniques has thesculptor used to make arealistic portrait?

Seven Portraits from Ancient Greece & RomeUQ Antiquities Museum 09.001: Palmyrene Youth’s Tomb MarkerThis tombstone of local stonecomes from Palmyra, Syria.It was carved by an unknownsculptor in the 3rd century AC.How does this young manfrom the Eastern RomanEmpire compare to the Greekyouths you saw earlier?All images reproduced courtesy ofthe R.D. Milns Antiquities Museumand Dr Amelia R. Brown

Dürer and Rembrant: The relevanceof Early Modern Self-PortraitureSome background onself-portraiture:– Self-portraits extremely rareprior to the 15th century– During the Renaissance,an increased focus on theconcept of individualism:think of Shakespeare’splay Hamlet (“to thine ownself be true) or Michele deMontaigne’s essays– For visual artists,emancipation fromguilds and increasedindependenceDr. Andrea BubenikLecturer in Art HistoryThe University of Queensland– German Renaissance artistAlbrecht Dürer (1471-1528)and Dutch Baroque artistRembrandt van Rijn (

portraits and self portraits from leading UQ scholars in the School of Classics, the School of English, Media Studies and Art History and the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland. The presentations featured in this resource are: How portraits of ancient men and women, both