Galba; Otho; Vitellius; Vespasian; Titus; Domitian. 🖼️ Print available here

Appearance of The Principate [Pt. II]

68–96: Year of the Four Emperors and Flavian dynasty

Galba: (Upper Left) Musei Capitolini Rome; (R) Same, but before repair (?); (LL) Museum of Antiquities Stockholm.
Otho (v1): ↖️ Louvre; ↗️ Painting by Peter Paul Rubens; ↙️ British Museum; ↘️ Uffizi Gallery Florence
Otho (v2): Rather than guessing at inconsistent wig depictions, I have rendered him without a wig and bare shoulders.
Vitellius (v1): ↖️ Louvre*; ↗️ Painting by Peter Paul Rubens; ↙️ New Carlsberg Gylototek; ↘️ Rubens House Antwerp. [*Pseudo-Vitellius]
Vitellius (v2): Darker hair and eyes. Disregarding previous source John Malalas. Also: Influenced by 17th century bust by Francesco-Righetti in style of bronze ↘️ Reubens House.
Vespasian (v1): ↖️ Louvre; ↗️ Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge (original: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek c. 70 CE); ↙️ Capitoline Museum; ↘️ National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy.
Vespasian (v2): Weighted more heavily to ↗ ️Museum of Classical Archeology bust which is believed to be less idealized. Head proportions more influenced by ↙️ Capitoline Museum.
Titus (v1): ↖️ Museo Nazionale, Naples; ↗️ Archaeological Museum Théo Desplans, France; ↙️ British Museum
Titus (v2): Darker hair and eyes, disregarding unreliable citation of John Malalas which described Titus as having blond hair. More facial hair according to coinage.
Domitian (v1): ↖️ Vatican Museum, Vatican City, Italy; ↗️ Altes Museum Berlin; ↙️ National Archaeological Museum, Venice, Italy (16th century); ↘️ Louvre Paris; + Also: Toledo Museum of Art; Capitoline Museum, Rome; National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy (c.1500–1577)
Domitian (v2): More influence from balding ↗️ Altes Museum Berlin bust. Darker hair and eyes, disregarding unreliable citation of John Malalas which described Domitian as having blond hair.

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