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Copyright © 2009 Ancient Sculpture Gallery LLC - AncientSculptureGallery.com. All rights reserved.
Bronze cold cast Head of Roman statesman Marcus Agrippa
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Date: 1st century A.D.
Period: Roman Imperial
The Museum’s Head of Agrippa sculpture is a reproduction of a bronze bust from the early 1st
century A.D. that was discovered in 1904 near the Arch of Augustus at Susa, a town in northern Italy
not far from Turin. The original bronze head was identified as that of Marcus Agrippa, and is
thought to have belonged to a full-length statue. One of the emperor Augustus’ closest friends and
supporters, Agrippa played a leading role in the civil wars of the 30s B.C. and later acted as the
emperor’s ambassador, dealing with troubles in various parts of the Empire. Agrippa was
rewarded with many titles and offices, including the consulship on three occasions, and in 21 B.C.
he married Augustus’ daughter Julia. Through her, he was grandfather and great grandfather to
the emperors Gaius (Caligula) and Nero respectively. Agrippa was a man of many talents, and he
wrote an autobiography as well as a geographical treatise from which a map of the Empire was
compiled and later displayed in Rome. He also undertook the construction of many public
buildings, notably the Pantheon in Rome, and other more practical works, such as aqueducts,
roads, bridges, and sewers. A noted art collector, Agrippa encouraged the public display of works
of art, although some of his collection may well have decorated the villa he built at Boscotrecase, a
town near Pompeii.
Item No. S109
Bonded bronze, hand patinated. Height including base 16 in., length 7 3/4 in., width 9 1/2 in.
$695.00
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Date: 1st century A.D.
Period: Roman Imperial
The Museum’s Head of Agrippa sculpture is a reproduction of a bronze bust from the early 1st
century A.D. that was discovered in 1904 near the Arch of Augustus at Susa, a town in northern Italy
not far from Turin. The original bronze head was identified as that of Marcus Agrippa, and is
thought to have belonged to a full-length statue. One of the emperor Augustus’ closest friends and
supporters, Agrippa played a leading role in the civil wars of the 30s B.C. and later acted as the
emperor’s ambassador, dealing with troubles in various parts of the Empire. Agrippa was
rewarded with many titles and offices, including the consulship on three occasions, and in 21 B.C.
he married Augustus’ daughter Julia. Through her, he was grandfather and great grandfather to
the emperors Gaius (Caligula) and Nero respectively. Agrippa was a man of many talents, and he
wrote an autobiography as well as a geographical treatise from which a map of the Empire was
compiled and later displayed in Rome. He also undertook the construction of many public
buildings, notably the Pantheon in Rome, and other more practical works, such as aqueducts,
roads, bridges, and sewers. A noted art collector, Agrippa encouraged the public display of works
of art, although some of his collection may well have decorated the villa he built at Boscotrecase, a
town near Pompeii.
Item No. S109
Bonded bronze, hand patinated. Height including base 16 in., length 7 3/4 in., width 9 1/2 in.
$695.00
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