Aurelius Antoninus Pius (late 1400s): Art, History and Details

Aurelius Antoninus Pius (late 1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Gregorio di Lorenzo (Italian, c. 1436–1504).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A laurel wreath rests on this Roman emperor’s finely articulated corkscrew curls, underscoring his military triumphs. While many ancient and classically inspired marble sculptures were painted, the survival of pigments is rare. In addition to the vibrant green coloring, traces of gold also remain on the leaves.

Object facts

• Title: Aurelius Antoninus Pius
• Date: late 1400s
• Creator attribution: Gregorio di Lorenzo (Italian, c. 1436–1504)
• Culture: Italy, Lombard School, late 15th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 50.5 x 34 x 13 cm (19 7/8 x 13 3/8 x 5 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1939.160

A detail from the museum

The artist can be identified by his distinctive flame-shaped curls forming the beard.

Collection credit

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., for the Coralie Walker Hanna Memorial Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Milliken, William. "The Coralie Walker Hanna Memorial Collection Gift of Leonard C Hanna." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 26, no. 6 (June 1939): 84-115

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.