Statue of an Emperor, called Titus
Unknown · Last quarter of the first century AD (Flavian period)
A general in a moulded cuirass with leather straps, a tunic beneath and a cloak thrown over his shoulder rests a shield on a support beside him. The breastplate carries the real interest: a gorgon's mask at the chest to ward off evil, two winged Victories in long tunics stretching their arms toward a candelabrum, a small Cupid with drapery and, at the bottom, an inverted acanthus calyx sprouting scrolls. Such decorated armour turned the emperor's body into a poster of divine favour and military success.
The torso and its ornament are Flavian work of the late first century, and the statue has long been called Titus, the emperor who reigned from 79 to 81, although the head is a replacement. The head, right arm, both faces of the shield, right leg, feet and base were remade, most of them in coarse-grained marble in the seventeenth century, the right arm in the nineteenth. Its origin is unknown; it was seized during the Revolution and has belonged to the Louvre since then.
Did You Know? The name Titus rests on tradition; the head that would identify the emperor is a modern replacement.
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