Togatus Figure (1–200 CE): Art, History and Details

Togatus Figure (1–200 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

From 1929 until 1973, this toga-clad body was displayed with a portrait head of Vespasian (recarved from Nero) that did not originally belong to it. Several details indicate a mismatch: the surfaces and proportions differ, and the head projected awkwardly forward even after modern recarving of the neck to fit into the body cavity. Aspects of the toga also suggest that it was sculpted later than the head.

Object facts

• Title: Togatus Figure
• Date: 1–200 CE
• Culture: Italy, Roman
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: pentelic marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 167.7 x 63.5 x 40.6 cm (66 x 25 x 16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Roman
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1929.439

A detail from the museum

This body once included a separately made head and arms.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Brummer Gallery Records. Cloisters (Museum), n.d.
• R. H. "The Portrait of a Roman Statesman." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 16, no. 8 (1929): 139-41.
• "Roman Honesty," Art Digest. [New York] (Mid October 1929).

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.