Exhibition: ‘Hadrian: An Emperor Cast in Bronze’ in Jerusalem

In 2016, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem hosted an exhibition titled ‘Hadrian: An Emperor Cast in Bronze’. The exhibition was curated by David Merovah (Curator of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Archaeology) and Rachel Caine Kreinin (Associate Curator) from the Israel Museum, together with Thorsten Opper (Curator of the Department of Greece and Rome) from the British Museum. The exhibition concluded the Israel Museum’s celebrations of its 50th anniversary, which were held throughout 2015.

Official website of the exhibition: http://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/2016/hadrian/

Of the many bronze portraits of Hadrian that are known to have existed, only three have survived from antiquity. This significant exhibition brought together, for the first time, these three extant bronze portraits, marking a symbolic return of the Emperor to Jerusalem, whose last visit to the city was in AD 130.

Of these three portraits, one is housed at the Israel Museum and was discovered in a Roman camp near Tel Shalem (northern Israel), not far from Beit Shean, the ancient Scythopolis.   The second, found in the River Thames in 1834 and now part of the British Museum, was probably made to commemorate Hadrian’s visit to Britain in AD 122. The last portrait, on loan from the Louvre, came from Egypt or Asia Minor.

All three bronze heads were originally part of a full-body statue of Hadrian, intended to glorify imperial authority in the provinces and to be venerated in dedicated shrines. These statues, which were sent throughout the provinces as a demonstration of Rome’s imperial power, possessed both political and cultic significance.

The bronze head recovered from the River Thames in London, near the remains of an ancient bridge, belonged to a larger-than-life-size statue that may have been erected on the bridge itself or in a public space such as a forum. It may have been created to commemorate Hadrian’s visit to Britain in 122 AD. This portrait gives insight into Hadrian’s leadership and the use of the imperial image as propaganda.

The Thames head differs from Hadrian’s official portrait types and was probably made in a local workshop. The artist may have used a two-dimensional model, such as a coin. The eyes may originally have been enamelled.

Another significant exhibit connected to the province of Britannia was a coin commemorating Hadrian’s visit to Britain. The Emperor appears on horseback before a parade of soldiers. The inscription below reads EXERC(ITUS) BRITANNICUS, that is [The Roman] army of Britain.

The wall he famously constructed in northern England was used as the backdrop image for the Israel Museum’s statue, highlighting the multifaceted and contradictory character of Hadrian. Hadrian is considered to be one of the most enlightened and important Roman rulers, but he is also inextricably linked with the brutal suppression of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, for which he earned the sobriquet “the bone-grinder”, the destroyer of Judea.

The magnificent bust from Tel Shalem was the centrepiece of the exhibition and is considered the most lifelike of the three exhibited portraits. Unlike the London’s head, the Israel Museum’s bust is likely to have been crafted in Rome, probably using the official representation of the Emperor as a model.

This remarkable bust was discovered by chance by an American tourist in Tel Shalem (Beth Shean Valley, Israel) on July 25, 1975, while searching for ancient coins with a metal detector. Tel Shalem was once occupied by a detachment of the Sixth Roman Legion (Legio VI Ferrata). The 50 fragments of this bust were found in a building which stood at the centre of the camp, perhaps in the principia (the headquarters tent or building).

The head, cast in one piece and found intact, is one of the finest extant portraits of the Emperor and is of a type popular in the provinces; the Rollockenfrisur type. Probably cast in an imperial workshop in Rome, the statue features the standardised likeness of the Emperor, down to the unique shape of his earlobe, a symptom of the heart disease that eventually caused his death.

The cuirass is decorated with an enigmatic depiction of six nude warriors. It has been suggested that the scene depicts a duel between Aeneas, wearing a Phrygian cap, and Turnus, the king of the Rutuli. The scene may be viewed as an allegory of Hadrian’s triumph over the Bar Kokhba revolt.

The third bronze portrait of Hadrian came from an imposing, full-length, larger-than-life statue of the Emperor. The head was probably produced in the eastern part of the empire, perhaps in Asia Minor or Egypt. This portrait differs slightly from the Tel Shalem bronze and does not correspond to any of the imperial portrait types defined for Hadrian. The face is longer than usual, the eyes are wider than was customary, and the hooked, crooked nose is unique.

These characteristics were long thought to indicate that it was a posthumous portrait made to resemble Hadrian’s successor, Antonius Pius. A more recent study challenges this theory and suggests that the Louvre head is a variant of the type developed during the first years of Hadrian’s reign, specifically in the period AD 118-121.

Each portrait had its unique characteristics and differed slightly in its depiction of the Emperor. Two of them clearly depict a surprising anatomical detail, a deep diagonal crease in both earlobes. Such creases have been observed on patients suffering from heart disease, and medical studies have established a connection between earlobe creases and this condition.

The exhibition was an opportunity to shed light on how these portraits were manufactured in antiquity. As was typical for large-scale bronze statuary, these bronzes were fashioned using the lost-wax casting technique. The ingenious ancient technique is beautifully illustrated in a video created to accompany the exhibition, which combines stop-motion and 2D animation. The animators visited a bronze casting workshop and collaborated with the curator and the museum’s restoration department. The head used in the film was a plaster replica of the original bronze statue of Hadrian, found in Tel-Shalem.

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The exhibition also presented the two parts of an inscription that adorned a monumental arch dedicated to Hadrian by the 10th Legion stationed in Jerusalem during his visit in AD 130. The two parts were joined together for the first time since antiquity.

The first fragment of the inscription was unearthed in 1903 and has been preserved by the Franciscan Studium Biblicum in Jerusalem.

The second fragment was discovered in 2014 during excavations near the Damascus Gate, in the Old City of Jerusalem, by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Putting the two slabs together, the complete inscription reads (translation by Avner Ecker and Hannah Cotton of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem):

 To the Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, son of the deified Traianus Parthicus, grandson of the deified Nerva, high priest, invested with the tribunician power for the fourteenth time, consul for the third time, father of the country [dedicated by] the Tenth Legion Fretensis (second hand) Antoniniana

The word “Antoniniana” was added later, during the reign of Emperor Caracalla, indicating that the original monument and inscription survived for at least 100 years.

The other exhibits on display were found in caves in the Judean Desert, where some Jewish rebels hid in an unsuccessful attempt to evade Hadrian’s legions. They locked their houses and sought refuge in the desert until it was safe to go back home. Among the objects found in the caves and put on show were sandals, iron house keys, a knife, and a letter written by Bar Kokhba himself to his subordinates.

The caves were excavated in the 1960s. Alongside remains of human skeletons, they revealed a host of archaeological treasures, many of which are part of the Israel Museum’s permanent collection. Due to the arid climate, organic finds such as textiles, documents written on papyrus, garments and shoes, fruits, olive pits and grain kernels were also preserved.

A unique source of information about the Bar Kokhba Revolt is the letters written on papyrus in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Most were written by Bar Kokhba himself and addressed to his subordinates. The texts show their author as a skilled commander who was often harsh and ruthless.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank David Mevorah, the curator of the exhibition, for the guided tour he kindly gave me. This exhibition was of particular interest to me as it was a unique opportunity to see the only three surviving bronze portraits of Hadrian all at once.

The inscription also held a very special meaning for me, as I was in Jerusalem in October 2014 when the newly discovered fragment was presented to the public for the first time. I was told that the fragments would go their separate ways again once the exhibition was over, making this trip to Jerusalem the only opportunity to see the inscription as it was 1900 years ago.