Roman Portraits

First published in 1940, this reprint presents full-page black-and-white photographs of the faces of 120 sculptures (both original and Renaissance reproductions). Taken by Ilse Schneider-Lengyel in museums across Europe during the 1930s, the photographs provide a haunting and powerful record of Roman portraiture which would have occupied a prominent place in every house of status. Covering the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD, the sculptures depict generals, emperors, politicans, and many unknown men and women. The brief introduction discusses the features that distinguish Roman portraiture from that of the Greeks and Egyptians and the stylistic characteristics of these ` imagines of the fathers of European culture'.