[Illustration: FIG. 68.--PORTRAIT STATUE OF SOPHOCLES.]
Among the Romans portrait sculpture held a position of importance. This people had always placed great value upon the likenesses of the dead, and from the earliest times had used different means of making them. In the very early days of the nation the custom prevailed of making masks of the faces of the dead in wax, and these masks were worn in the funeral procession by one of the mourners, who also wore the dress and insignia of the departed. The first aim in these masks was to have an exact resemblance to the dead; and this idea was carried on through all the eras of Roman art, and is a strong distinguishing feature between Greek and Roman sculpture; for while the Greeks wished to reproduce the face of one of whom they made a bust or statue, they did not hesitate to idealize that face; but the Romans labored to make an exact likeness of the man, leaving him in his statue as nothing more than he looked to be. This manner of portraiture often does great injustice to its model, for the changing expressions which come with emotions and with conversation often illuminate the plainest faces with a rare beauty; therefore the aim of portraiture should be to give the very most and best that can be imagined as coming to the face which is reproduced.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.--STATUE OF AUGUSTUS.]
I can speak of but a few of the almost numberless Roman portrait sculptures.
This statue of Augustus was found in 1863 in a villa built by his wife, Livia, about nine miles from Rome, at Porta Prima. It is a noble work, and every minute detail of the ornamentation has a force and meaning that can be explained. At the same time the whole work is full of strength and dignity, which comes from the character of the man himself, and is in no sense dependent on all the emblems of his rank and power, with which the dress is loaded (Fig. 69). This statue is in the Vatican, and there one can compare it with the exquisite bust known as the "Young Augustus" and with the statue of the emperor when aged, in which he is veiled as a priest. The study of these three sculptures, thus fortunately near each other, is most interesting.
[Illustration: FIG. 70.--AGRIPPINA THE ELDER.]