Research at Cambridge. Primaporta Augustus. Full length statue of the first Roman Emperor. Location of Original:. Robert Cook bequest. Search Casts. Definitely not! The sculpture contains even more symbolism. Cupid on a dolphin detail , Augustus of Primaporta , 1st century C. The cupid astride the dolphin sends another message too: that Augustus is descended from the gods. Cupid is the son of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Julius Caesar, the adoptive father of Augustus, claimed to be descended from Venus and therefore Augustus also shared this connection to the gods.
Finally, Augustus is wearing a cuirass, or breastplate, that is covered with figures that communicate additional propagandistic messages. Scholars debate over the identification over each of these figures, but the basic meaning is clear: Augustus has the gods on his side, he is an international military victor, and he is the bringer of the Pax Romana, a peace that encompasses all the lands of the Roman Empire.
Detail of the breastplate, Augustus of Primaporta , 1st century C. In the central zone of the cuirass are two figures, a Roman and a Parthian. On the right, the enemy Parthian returns military standards. He is pointing upward and to his right with his right hand as if he were pointing to the land he must now take over.
His pointing hand is not balled into a fist but rather slightly opened and relaxed as if he were making a friendly and calm gesture. Augustus has an intent and focused look on his face shown by his furrowed brow and hard almost emotionless lips. His outfit is very detailed and dramatic with high contrast from the deeply carved features and accessories like the ruffled sleeves that protrude from beneath his armor.
Even more contrast of light and dark is seen in the cloth he has wrapped around his waist and left arm. The folds are highly worked to create deep spaces between the folds. Underneath the fantastically carved folds of the draped cloth falls the bottom portion of his garb which would be close to what we call skirts today, but looks very manly on Augustus. To the lower right side of Augustus is a knee high little angel that may be Cupid. There have been many copies of this particular statue and in some cases he holds a staff and sometimes is painted in very bright colors.
Sculpted in the period of Imperial Rome the style of the sculpture is not unlike other statues of the time. The statue is obviously an idealization of Augustus for he is shown at a very youthful age and at the time this was created he would have been much older even dead. However, Augustus was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Emperor of Rome so he could have been shown any way he pleased.
Also, the forever young representation of Augustus shows that he will always have power and fits in perfectly with his propaganda goals. Powerful enough to destroy empires and take their lands, Augustus certainly had the respect to have such a statue made of him and placed in the city for all to see.
It was dedicated to Augustus and placed in a public space which coincides with the political beliefs. Political figures were often publicly praised at the time. An extremely interesting account was made in a historical document called Res Gestae Divi Augusti.
Written by the hand of Augustus this account lists many great feats accomplished by the powerful ruler. Afterwards he was made consul and was charged with the deed of settling the state. His power was already great, but he was just getting started. Keep in mind that he is still very young at this time. This sounds like Augustus was ruthless but he was fair. As to speak of foreign nations Augustus stated that he would prefer to preserve than to destroy.
Fair I would say is an accurate word for the man. Although the artist is unknown, the statue is dated to the First Century A. Global Prehistory. Ancient Mediterranean. Indigenous Americas. South, East, and Southeast Asia.
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