Head of an Emperor

This relief fragment originally formed part of a large-scale stone carving that would have been part of the ornamentation of a civic monument or wealthy tomb. While the individual’s identity is unknown, the features follow conventions seen in late antique Roman and early Byzantine imperial portraits—the cropped bangs pressed against the forehead and the stylized facial features indicate a male portrait, while the laurel wreath, or corona civica, and the small part in the bangs over the face link this head to an established tradition of royal portraiture.

The crudely chipped away eyes (and perhaps nose) of this otherwise well-preserved object is particularly noteworthy. Such intentional damage, called in Latin damnatio memoriae, is the result of political or religious foes who later try to erase the identity and memory of a ruler though such acts of physical mutilation of the person's image.