Antinous as Aristaeus
Unknown · Second quarter of the second century AD (c. 130-138)
Hadrian's young companion Antinous appears here not as a god of the Nile but as a countryman. He wears a broad-brimmed traveller's hat, a short belted tunic that leaves one shoulder bare, and laced boots, and he once held a hoe, of which only traces remain. The heavy fringe of curls under the hat brim and the melancholy face make the portrait unmistakable. The rustic dress has suggested Aristaeus, the mythical protector of shepherds and beekeepers, and fits the cult of Antinous as a bringer of fertility after his death in 130.
The drapery is simply carved and the back barely finished, which suggests the statue stood against a wall. The nose, the right arm, the left forearm with its attribute and the left side of the tree-trunk support are restorations, the arm and support in marble, the right index finger, the handle and the tool in plaster; the base is also modern and the right hand was reattached. The statue was seized during the Revolution and reached the Louvre in 1801.
Did You Know? The imperial favourite is dressed as a farmhand with a hoe, one of the few portraits that show Antinous in working clothes.
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