Togatus Barberini

 

Togatus Barberini

The sculpture A Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors, also called the Togatus Barberini, was created in the 1st century BCE during the Roman Republican period. The artist's name is not recorded. This piece was made in Rome, Italy, and reflects the veristic style of the late Republic. It is now housed in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

The sculpture A Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors is often called the Togatus Barberini for two reasons. The name Togatus comes from the toga worn by the figure in the sculpture, a garment that symbolized Roman citizenship and status, particularly among the elite. The toga is a prominent feature of the sculpture, highlighting the subject’s civic identity and role within Roman society. The term Barberini refers to the Barberini family, a wealthy and influential Roman family during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This family owned the sculpture as part of their art collection, and their name became associated with many ancient works they preserved. Over time, the sculpture became widely known by this combination of terms, reflecting both its visual identity and its connection to the Barberini family’s legacy.

This marble sculpture is life-size, measuring approximately 67 inches (5 feet 7 inches) tall. Marble, a durable and versatile stone, is the primary material, but there is no evidence to confirm whether it was originally painted. Many Roman sculptures were once polychromed using encaustic or tempera, and though this piece is now uncolored, it is possible that subtle, muted tones were originally used to enhance realism. The texture of the sculpture varies—smooth in areas representing flesh and fabric, with rougher carvings used to depict hair and other fine details. The overall craftsmanship shows a high degree of skill, with a focus on intricate details such as wrinkles, the folds of the toga, and the features of the busts held by the figure.

The work is deeply realistic, using exaggerated naturalism to emphasize age and experience. The subject’s face is marked by wrinkles and sagging skin, typical of the veristic style that sought to convey wisdom and moral authority. These features are not merely accurate but are exaggerated to communicate specific virtues admired in Roman society. The anatomy of the figure is generally accurate, with no major distortions, though the focus on aging features creates a stylized impression of gravitas (weight or depth) and dignitas.   The component of dignatas was central to a Roman’s place in the world.

The term dignitas in Roman culture referred to a combination of personal reputation, moral integrity, social standing, and influence. It was a deeply valued concept that encompassed an individual’s sense of honor and respect within their community, often tied to their achievements and contributions to public life. For Roman elites, dignitas was a measure of their legacy, shaped by their actions, virtues, and their family's status. It was not just an individual quality but something rooted in the collective reputation of one’s family and ancestry, often requiring a lifetime of civic and military service to cultivate and maintain.

The verist tradition of portraiture during the Roman Republic became a powerful medium to express dignitas. Through its hyper-realistic style, the veristic approach deliberately emphasized the physical signs of age, such as wrinkles, sunken cheeks, and other imperfections, to symbolize experience, wisdom, and a life dedicated to public service. These features conveyed the subject’s personal sacrifices and moral character, aligning their physical appearance with the Republican ideals of gravitas (seriousness) and auctoritas (authority).

By showing their subjects as aged and weathered, often to the point of exaggeration, veristic portraits rejected the idealized beauty of earlier Greek traditions and focused instead on a visual language that communicated the weight of responsibility and the respect earned through years of dedication to the state. These portraits were a visual assertion of dignitas, reinforcing the subject's role as a custodian of Roman values and as a person who upheld the traditions of mos maiorum, the customs of the ancestors. In this way, the veristic style transformed physical aging into a badge of honor, serving as a public statement of an individual’s worth and contributions to society.

This sculpture is a classic example of verist portraiture in other ways, specifically in terms of heritage. The busts held by the central figure likely represent the subject’s ancestors, emphasizing family lineage and the importance of tradition. This iconography would have signaled the subject’s social standing as a member of the patrician class. The display of ancestors was not just a personal statement but a public declaration of the subject’s loyalty to Roman values and traditions. Unlike some verist sculptures that depict only the individual, this piece ties personal identity to a larger narrative of family and civic responsibility.

A Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors likely reference the Roman practice of creating and displaying imagines, which were wax effigies of ancestors kept by elite families. These effigies were housed in family homes and played an essential role in public and privateceremonies, especially funerals. The sculpture's marble ancestor busts evoke this tradition, symbolizing the subject's ties to his lineage and the continuity of family heritage.

Sometimes you may see photograph or a painting of a person standing in front of a display of family photographs or paintings.  Sometimes you might see one of those images in a photo album and the person showing you the album will talk about their family.  The depiction in marble of wax sculptures is a good example of how art can sometimes depict a kind of picture within another picture.  (We’ll see something like this when we look at the Augustus of Prima Porta.)  It’s a bit like a photograph or a photograph or a painting of a painting.  This idea comes up again and again in art history and is even a theme or motif that has a name.  In Roman culture, they called this an imagines. However, academics have several names for the term for a picture within a picture, or a facsimile of a facsimile, or a copy of a copy?

The imagenes is a kind of mise en abyme. Mise en abyme is a French term that translates literally to "placed into abyss" or "placed into the void." In its broader meaning, it refers to a situation where something contains a smaller version of itself, creating a recursive or self-reflective structure. It's often used in art and literature to describe a story within a story, an image within an image, or any element that reflects or mirrors the larger context it is part of.

As in a photograph like Charles “Teenie” Harris’s of two women, which contains photographs within photographs or painting that contains a smaller painting.  This painting by Anton Jenik is an excellent example because not only does it show paintings within paintings, but it also has a classical sculpture holding two crowns made of laurels which were symbols of excellence.  It’s almost as if the painter is doing what verist sculpture is trying to do, the painting shows a link with the classical past, using a reference to a “classy” symbol of his family’s honored status, and its link to recent ancestors.  This is something the Romans found important and the traditions continue even today.  

The terms are confusing but also useful and can vary depending on the context, but here are some relevant ones:

1. Picture within a Picture:
• Mise en abyme: A term from French that refers to a visual or conceptual image within an image, often reflecting or mirroring the larger work. This can be literal, as in a painting that contains a smaller version of itself, or metaphorical, as in a nested narrative.
2. Facsimile of a Facsimile:
• Simulacrum: Refers to a representation or imitation of something, often used to describe a copy that has lost connection to its original.
• Reproduction: A straightforward term for something made as a copy of another.
3. Copy of a Copy:
• Derivative: Used for something that is derived from or modeled on something else.
• Iteration: Refers to repeated versions or copies, sometimes with subtle changes.
• Hyperreal: In philosophical terms (Jean Baudrillard), this refers to a representation that becomes more real to the audience than the original, especially through repeated reproduction.

Each term is nuanced and often carries specific connotations based on its field of use (e.g., art, literature, philosophy).

The practice of carrying or displaying imagines was particularly significant during funeral processions for members of the patrician class. In these ceremonies, family members would wear masks or effigies representing deceased ancestors, often donning their specific clothing or regalia. This act was not only a display of family pride but also a public affirmation of the family's role in Roman society. The effigies symbolized the unbroken lineage of civic and military service and connected the deceased to the achievements and legacies of their forebears.

In this context, the Togatus Barberini sculpture alludes to this tradition by replacing the ephemeral wax effigies with more permanent marble busts. While not directly replicating a funeral procession, the sculpture reinforces the importance of imagines in maintaining familial and societal memory. It can be understood as a timeless statement of the subject’s identity, presenting him as a custodian of ancestral legacy and a participant in the rituals that reinforced Roman social structure.

Clothing in the Togatus Barberini holds significant iconic importance, as it visually reinforces the social and cultural identity of the subject. The figure wears a toga, a garment that was highly symbolic in Roman society and reserved exclusively for Roman citizens. The toga was not simply everyday attire but a formal garment worn during public ceremonies, political functions, and legal proceedings, emphasizing the wearer’s role in civic life.

In the context of the Togatus Barberini, the toga underscores the subject’s status as a patrician—a member of the Roman elite—and his commitment to public duty and the values of the Republic. The toga’s folds are carefully rendered, highlighting the formality and dignity associated with the garment. It acts as a visual declaration of the subject’s civitas (citizenship) and his participation in the political and legal structures of Rome.

Additionally, the act of holding busts of ancestors while dressed in the toga creates a layered symbolism. The toga represents the subject’s role in contemporary society, while the busts link him to his familial heritage and the ancestral traditions (mos maiorum) that defined Roman identity. Together, these elements communicate the subject’s connection to both the past and present, emphasizing his dignitas (personal honor) and auctoritas (authority) in the public and private spheres.

The piece was likely commissioned by the subject or their family to serve as a memorial. Such sculptures were commonly placed in tombs or displayed in public ceremonies, reinforcing the subject’s role in upholding family and societal values. While the specific biography of the subject is unknown, the emphasis on age and ancestry aligns with Republican ideals of respect for tradition and service to the state. The choice to portray the subject holding ancestor busts is a distinctive feature, setting it apart from other verist works.

The exact circumstances of the sculpture’s discovery are not documented, but works like this are often found in tombs or domestic contexts in Rome. It appears to be in good condition, with no major restorations noted. The patron was likely the subject or their descendants, reflecting their wealth and status. The work has remained in Rome and is part of the Capitoline collection, meaning its provenance is relatively straightforward, with no indications of theft or removal to foreign institutions.

 

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