Commodus was not necessarily a deranged, power-hungry sadist, but this lazy-eyed, buffed up portrait of the emperor wearing the attributes of Hercules certainly does beg the question…
It’s a terrific spectacle, found in the city of Rome on the Esquiline and now in the Musei Capitolini. The emperor’s lush cap of curls is covered by a lionskin cloak, his torso is otherwise nude (and oh so shiny), and he bears Herakles’ club and the apples of the Hesperides in each hand. As if aligning himself with the semi-divine hero of all heroes were not sufficiently over-the-top, beneath the portrait are cornicopiae, a globe, kneeling amazons, and the entire ensemble flanked by life-sized tritons (their skin stippled with scales)
Like all the ‘bad emperors’ Commodus tussled with the Senate and received some nasty posthumous take-downs. Certainly he was a sharp departure from his father Marcus Aurelius, and perhaps had some unusual proclivities (including staging and participating in public gladiatorial games…). This surviving portrait seems to indicate, if nothing else, a rather distasteful tendency towards brazen self-aggrandizement. But what a splashy and entertaining spectacle it is!
(Hey, I just watched Gladiator for the umteenth time…what’s not to like??)
‘AM I NOT MERCIFUL!!!!’
