CAMEO WITH IMPERIAL HEAD, 80-100 CE. MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE DI NAPOLI
Temporarily at the Capitoline Museums for the Farnese exhibition.
This beautiful bust of an emperor is in three-level sardonyx, the top level being a caramel-coloured brown over a middle layer of white and a bottom layer of iridescent grey. The emperor is facing towards the right, and his laurel crown and part of the chlamys on his shoulder are both in the top level brown colour, whereas the majority of the head and shoulders are in the white layer. This cameo was acquired by Fulvio Orsini, the agent and collector for Cardinal Alessandro II Farnese. There are two curious things about this piece. First, it has the shape of the head of Domitian, but the beaky nose of his successor Nerva. Second, it shows no signs of being recarved to look like Nerva (no narrowing of the head, for instance), leading some scholars to suspect it is a C16 fake. But I think it was recarved well in antiquity. Really the only part to be reworked was Nerva's nose: the round chin looks like Domitian's, as does the brow.
The Mystery of Nerva's Nose is on our minds for #ReliefWednesday. From the back of this #cameo's head, with its little curls at the nape of its neck, all the way to the profile, this #emperor is clearly #Domitian. But then wham, that beak! It surely belongs to #Nerva. So...? #ClassicsBluesky 🏺