3-039-428 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Portrait of a Child, A.D. 150-200. Additional Info: This child, probably a boy of early toddler age, is among the most sensitive portraits of very young children known in Roman art. Broken at the neck, the head would have sat on a full-length statue or a bust. Several features of this portrait are characteristic of Roman sculpture in the Antonine period (A.D. 138-192), such as the interest in observing personality, depicting movement, and contrasting textures such as the polished skin and the impressionistic rendering of the hair. The boy’s tight curls and some of his facial features have led some modern viewers to categorize him as a Black African, but given the lack of historical evidence (e.g., an inscription naming him) and non-physical markers of identity (such as clothing), the child’s ethnicity remains uncertain.