The Colossal Statue at the Forum of Augustus: Iconography and Semantics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18688/Keywords:
emperor Augustus, art of Ancient Rome, Roman visual tradition, Genius of Augustus, Imperial cult, Forum of Augustus, history of art, ancient portrait, colossal statues, sculptural portraitAbstract
In the 1920s, four fragments of a colossal statue (11–14 m in height), made using the acrolith technique, were found in the Forum of Augustus in Rome. It is believed that the colossus was housed in a small rectangular hall that closed the northern portico of the Forum. To date, this monument is a portrait image of Augustus in the role of Genius Augusti and has been reconstructed in accordance with the relevant iconography. However, neither the only surviving literary source (the epigram of Martial), which mentions the "colossus of Augustus," nor the surviving fragments allow us to reconstruct the statue type with complete confidence. Only a fragment of a bent index finger of the right hand and a small pedestal for a standing image help narrow down the possible iconographic types. This article attempts to challenge the accepted attribution of the colossal statue from the Forum of Augustus as an image of Genius Augusti. The monument is considered not only within the series of images of the princeps but also in the context of the phenomenon of colossal portraits of Roman emperors. This approach allows us to determine more accurately the place of the monument in the history of Roman art and to outline its possible meanings more precisely.
References
Abbondanza L. Il ritratto di Augusto del Cortile della Pigna. Abbondanza L.; Coarelli F.; Lo Sardo E. (eds). Apoteosi, da uomini a dèi. Roma, Palombi Editori Publ., 2014, pp. 125–137 (in Italian).
Albertson F. C. Zenodorus’s “Colossus of Nero.” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, 2001, vol. 46, pp. 95–118 (in Italian).
Boschung D. Divus Augustus. Das Charisma des Herrschers und seine postume Beglaubigung. Boschung D.; Hammerstaedt J. (eds). Das Charisma des Herrschers. Paderborn, Wilhelm ink Publ., 2015., pp. 173–188 (in German).
Carnabuci E.; Braccalenti L. Nuove ipotesi per una rilettura del settore meridionale del Foro di Augusto. Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, 2011, vol. 112, pp. 35–66 (in Italian).
Dal Monte L. Il Foro di Augusto. Milano, Università degli Studi di Milano Publ., 2021. 462 p. (in Italian).
Flower H. I. The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Princeton, Princeton University Press Publ., 2017. 416 p.
Fishwick D. The Imperial Cult in the Latin West: Studies in the Ruler Cult of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire, vol. 3.3. Leiden; Boston; Köln, Brill Publ., 2003. 426 p.
Gradel I. Emperor Worship and Roman Religion. Oxford, Clarendon Press Publ., 2002. 398 p.
La Rocca E. Dal culto di Ottaviano all’apoteosi di Augusto. Dicere laudes. Elogio, comunicazione, creazione del consenso. Atti del convegno internazionale Cividale del Friuli, 23–25 settembre 2010. Pisa, ETS Publ., 2011, pp. 179–204 (in Italian).
Lott J. B. The Earliest Augustan Gods Outside of Rome. The Classical Journal, 2014–2015, vol. 110, no. 2, pp. 129–158.
Pollini J. From Republic to Empire: Rhetoric, Religion, and Power in the Visual Culture of Ancient Rome. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press Publ., 2012. 550 p.
Russell A. The Altars of the Lares Augusti. A View from the Streets of Augustan Iconography. The Social Dynamics of Roman Imperial Imagery. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 2020, pp. 25–51.
Suess J. The Congregation of the Genius Augusti. Oxford, University of Oxford Publ., 2007. 96 p.
Tacitus Cornelius. Works in Two Volumes. Vol. 1. Annals. Minor Works. Bobovich A. S. (trans.). Moscow, Ladomir Publ., 1993. 444 p. (in Russian).
Trofimova A. A. The Statue of Augustus as Jupiter from the Collection of the State Hermitage Museum. Style, Image, Myth. Iskusstvosoznanie (Art Studies Magazine), no. 3, 2024, pp. 106–137 (in Russian).
Ungaro L. The Forum of Augustus. Ungaro L. (ed.). The Museum of the Imperial Forums in Trajan’s Market. Roma, Electa Publ., 2013, pp. 118–130.
Welin E. Studien zur Topographie des Forum Romanum. Lund, C.W.K. Gleerup Publ., 1953. 232 p. (in German).
Zanker P. Forum Augustum. Das Bildprogramm. Tübingen, Ernst Wasmuth Publ., 1968. 36 p. (in German).
Zanker P. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Shapiro A. (trans.). Ann Arbour, The University of Michigan Press Publ., 1988. 385 p.
