Pseudo-Seneca, Portrait of Hesiod (?)
Pseudo-Seneca, Portrait of Hesiod (?)
Published 2017-12-15T12:47:15+00:00
The Pseudo-Seneca is a Roman bronze bust of the late 1st century BC that was discovered in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum in 1754, the finest example of about two dozen examples depicting the same face. It was originally believed to depict Seneca the Younger, the notable Roman philosopher, because its emaciated features were supposed to reflect his Stoic philosophy. However, modern scholars agree it is likely a fictitious portrait, likely intended for either Hesiod or Aristophanes. It is thought that the original example was a lost Greek bronze of ca. 200 BC. The bust is conserved in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
"Pseudo-Seneca" is also used for the uncertain authors of various antique and medieval texts such as De remediis fortuitorum, which purport to be by the Roman author. At least some of these seem to preserve and adapt genuine Senecan content, for example Saint Martin of Braga's (d. c. 580) Formula vitae honestae, or De differentiis quatuor virtutumvitae honestae ("Rules for an Honest Life", or "On the Four Cardinal Virtues"). Early Mss. preserve Martin's preface, where he makes it clear that this was his adaption, but in later copies this was omitted, and the work became thought fully Seneca's work.
This is a bronze cast of the original sculpture (ORIG2570) housed at The Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, acquired in 1897.
Date published | 15/12/2017 |
Complejidad | Medio |
Titulo | Pseudo-Seneca, Portrait of Hesiod (?) |
Date | Ca. 200 BC |
Dimensión | Height 61cm |
Adhesión | KAS94 |
Medio | Bronze |
Record | http://collection.smk.dk/#/detail/KAS94 |
Artista | Unknown artist |
Lugar | SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst |