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Marble portrait bust of Severus Alexander

ca. 230–235 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 169
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 formal civic dress. The bust was probably produced in an imperial workshop at Rome and was set up in a prominent public place, perhaps with other imperial portraits representing his predecessors or with other members of the imperial family, such as his mother Julia Mamaea. The head, carved with great skill and sensitivity, combines a sense of growing maturity and power with a still visible youthful delicacy. The last emperor of the Severan dynasty, Severus Alexander died violently in Germany at the age of twenty-six.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marble portrait bust of Severus Alexander
  • Period: Late Severan
  • Date: ca. 230–235 CE
  • Culture: Roman
  • Medium: marble
  • Dimensions: Overall: 29 1/8 x 29 1/2 in. (74 x 75 cm)
  • Classification: Stone Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace and Philodoroi Gifts, 2011
  • Object Number: 2011.87
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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