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The Miller Collection of Roman Sculpture on Display

March 13 - July 4, 2004 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

An exhibition featuring more than thirty Roman portrait heads, stone figures, and relief fragments, dating from the first century B.C. to the third century A.D. is on display at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts from March 13 through July 4, 2004.

“The Miller Collection of Roman Sculpture: Mythological Figures and Portraits” draws from the private collection of Dr. Michael Miller of Armonk, New York, and has been assembled over the last twenty years with the advice of Dr. Richard Brilliant, professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. Containing images of familiar mythological subjects, funerary fragments, and a large group of portraits including several imperial examples, the exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view known personalities, mythological iconography, classical style of dress, as well as sculpting techniques of the time.

The exhibition includes some full figures, but the majority of objects in the exhibition are heads. Portrait heads of recognizable imperial personages such as Augustus, Gaius Caesar, Faustina Minor, Commodus, and Diocletian are on view as well as mythological subjects. Within this imperial group, one can view clear stylistic distinctions between male and female portraits as illustrated in the representations of Faustina and Commodus. Female subjects tend to be less elaborately carved, but they are no less sensitive. In addition, there are portraits that suggest political ideology and a few portraits that illustrate familial connections. The mythological figures in the exhibition include images of Silenos and satyrs as well as divine subjects including Zeus, Hercules, Cupid, the physician Asklepius, and Medusa. Images of youth and maturity can be found in this grouping. The god Zeus, for example, is just as idealized and perfect in his maturity as Cupid is in his youthfulness. Zeus wears a beard as a sign of age, but seems to suffer no other physical effects.

Portraits, however, represent the most prestigious aspect of the exhibition. Initially reserved for the aristocracy or deceased heads of state, portraiture grew popular among the entire Roman populace. For nearly 500 years, from the mid-Republic until the late Empire, prosperous merchants, professionals, freedmen, and even some slaves could afford to have portraits carved in grave reliefs. At the same time, the aristocracy also commissioned numerous portraits of themselves and their families for display in their homes and businesses as well as public spaces.

Roman portraiture remained strong for centuries, especially when private portraits, whether used in home, tomb, or forum marked the citizen’s participation in the affairs of society and the welfare of the state. The late third century shifts to a belief in the spiritual over the physical which caused Romans to lose interest in realistic portraiture and to place more emphasis on an individual’s soul than one’s likeness in stone.

Committed to sharing this work with the public, Dr. Miller has provided, through the display of his private collection a direct link to people, customs, and faces from the past. A catalogue prepared by Dr. Sheree Jaros with an introduction by Professor Brilliant is available.

Admission is free.