fragments of a colossal enthroned statue
of the emperor composed of a brick core,
a wooden torso covered with bronze, and
a head and limbs of marble. Constantine’s
artist modeled the seminude seated por-
trait on Roman images of Jupiter. The em-
peror held an orb (possibly surmounted
by the cross of Christ), the symbol of
global power, in his extended left hand.
The nervous glance of third-century por-
traits is absent, replaced by a frontal mask
with enormous eyes set into the broad
and simple planes of the head. The em-
peror’s personality is lost in this immense
image of eternal authority. The colossal
size, the likening of the emperor to
Jupiter, the eyes directed at no person or thing of this world—all
combine to produce a formula of overwhelming power appropriate
to Constantine’s exalted position as absolute ruler.
BASILICA NOVA, ROME Constantine’s gigantic portrait sat
in the western apse of the Basilica Nova (“New Basilica,”FIGS. 10-2,
no. 12, and 10-78), a project Maxentius had begun and Constan-
tine completed. From its position in the apse, the emperor’s image
dominated the interior of the basilica in much the same way that en-
throned statues of Greco-Roman divinities loomed over awestruck
mortals who entered the cellas of pagan temples.
10-77Portrait of
Constantine, from the
Basilica Nova, Rome,
Italy, ca. 315–330 ce.
Marble, 8 6 high.
Musei Capitolini, Rome.
Constantine’s portraits
revive the Augustan
image of an eternally
youthful ruler. This
colossal head is one of
several fragments of an
enthroned Jupiter-like
statue of the emperor
holding the orb of
world power.1 ft.10-78Restored cutaway view of the Basilica Nova, Rome, Italy,
ca. 306–312 ce(John Burge).
The lessons learned in the construction of baths and market halls were
applied to the Basilica Nova, where fenestrated concrete groin vaults
replaced the clerestory of a traditional stone-and-timber basilica.
284 Chapter 10 THE ROMAN EMPIRE