User:Lrsteele103/sandbox/Severan Tondo

The Severan Tondo or Berlin Tondo from circa 200 CE is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting from Classical Antiquity, depicting the first two generations of the imperial Severan dynasty, whose members ruled the Roman Empire in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. It depicts the Roman emperor Septimius Severus ((r. 193 – 211)) with his family: his wife, the augusta Julia Domna, and their two sons and co-augusti Caracalla ((r. 198 – 217)) and Geta ((r. 209 – 211)). The face of one of the two brothers has been deliberately erased, very likely as part of damnatio memoriae.

On the viewer's right is Septimius Severus, and to the left Julia Domna. In front of them are the boys Caracalla and Geta, probably the figure with the erased face on the viewer's left and slightly to the rear of the other boy. All wear jewelled gold wreaths and imperial insignia, some details of which have been lost. The dating of the piece has caused some debate among scholars, with the final consensus being circa 200 CE. The tondo has many stylistic connections to Fayum Mummy portraiture including materials and artistic elements, and was located in the Fayum district of Egypt during this period. Later on the tondo re-emerged from the antiquities trade; the provenance was unknown before entering the Antikensammlung Berlin (inventory number 31329) in the 20th century. It is now in the Altes Museum.

Description
The work is a tempera, or egg-based painting, on a circular wooden panel, or tondo, with a diameter of 30.5 cm. It depicts the Severan imperial family wearing sumptuous ceremonial garments. Septimius Severus and his sons are also holding sceptres and wearing gold wreaths decorated with precious stones. Scholars believe that the darker skin tone of Severus in the tondo probably reflects his gender more than his ethnic background. Julia Domna has her distinctive hairstyle, crimped into parallel locks, possibly a style from her home in Syria, and perhaps a wig. Although it's commonly assumed that Julia Domna introduced the custom of wearing wigs into Roman society, evidence points to an earlier predecessor introducing use of wigs in portraiture.

One son's face has been obliterated in a deliberate act of iconoclasm, and the vacant space smeared with excrement. Most scholars believe it is Geta whose face has been removed, probably after his murder by Caracalla's Praetorian Guard and the ensuing damnatio memoriae. However, it is also possible that Geta (as the younger son) is the smaller boy, and it is Caracalla's face which was eradicated, perhaps as a compensatory retaliation for Caracalla's mass execution of young Alexandrian men in the year 215.

The tondo was probably created in a square or rectangular shape, and later cut into a circle. The loss of some of the original painting is most apparent with the sceptres that the males are holding: the upper parts, once adorned with imperial symbols, are now missing. It seems likely that the panel was cut down in modern times to improve its saleability on the art market.

Historical Context
The Severan Dynasty lasted from 193 to 235 CE. Septimius Severus, the founder of the Severan Dynasty, was born in Lepcis Magna, Tripolitania, now present-day Libya, in the year of 145 CE. Severus gained power and status in the year of 190 CE, as he rose within Senate ranks under Marcus Aurelius. As Severus gained power, he also secured numerous governorships. He held that of Gallia Lugdunensis, Upper Pannonia, and Sicily. After the murder of the current emperor Commodus in 192, and the short lived secession by Pertinax, Severus was able to seize the emperorship with the assistance of his troops in 193. The following four years Severus spent fending off opposition from his rivals. Finally, in 197 CE, the empire was secured in his sole authority. After the empire was secured, Severus led many successful military campaigns, the more famous of them being against the Parthians.

After Severus’s death in February of 211 CE, the emperorship was supposed to be ruled between his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in a co-Augusti arrangement. This did not occur, as Caracalla had Geta murdered in December of the same year, 211. Caracalla was the sole ruler until he was also murdered in 217. The dynasty would continue to have a tumultuous line of succession until its end in 235 CE.

Damnatio Memoriae
After his murder, Geta was subjected to an official damnatio memoriae. In this official action, the Senate declared against his memory. This led to great removal, defacement, and erasure of Geta throughout the entire Roman empire. The Severan Tondo serves as one of the best examples of the official damnatio memoriae subjected to Geta’s figure.

The concept of damnatio memoriae was at its pinnacle during the Severan dynasty, which lasted forty-two-years. The use of damnatio memoriae against members and rivals of the imperial family happened numerous times over the course of the Severan dynasty’s rule. Some examples of imperial family members and political rivals who were officially sanctioned with some form of damnatio memoriae included: Didius Julianus, Plautilla, Clodius Albinus, Elagabalus, Julia Soemias, and Pescennius Niger. The tondo is one of the only surviving pieces of artwork which illustrates physical defacement in an act of damnatio memoriae; the act of smearing mud, offal, paint or even excrement was recorded as a practice in ancient sources.

The tondo may have functioned as an icon display for either a public or private setting, perhaps even functioning as a relic for the imperial cult. It may have been a way for the owner to profess loyalty to the imperial family and ruling dynasty; this would have been an act of pietas. The defacement of Geta’s figure in the tondo, would have continued the owner's private expression of loyalty. By removing Geta‘s figure from the tondo, the owner would be able to continue to support the new emperor, Caracalla, and the legacy of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. This display of damnatio memoriae of Geta’s image shows that this practice of defacement didn’t only occur on the public monuments and artworks, but in the private setting as well. Geta’s name and title, along with his image, were erased from almost every inscription pertaining to him. The inscriptions untouched total approximately thirty-one percent. The large number of images and inscriptions defaced in damnatio memoriae of Geta, indicate that the Roman army may have been instrumental in the official act of erasing Geta. Unlike Geta, when Caracalla was murdered, he wasn’t subjected to an official damnatio memoriae since he was well liked by the soldiers. However, the Senate didn’t care for him and labeled him a tyrant; so to appease some of the Senators, the new emperor Macrinus quietly removed some of his images from public displays.

Style
The Severan art period is defined by the civil war that took place during the establishment of their dynasty. To help with the transition of power and their public image, the Severan imperial family expertly preserved the earlier Antonine period in the process of associated iconography. Septimius Severus needed to overcome the uncertainly of succession by creating a strong dynastic line through portraits. This was also accomplished with a standardization of the imperial portraiture, which began in the third century with the tondo, and would become the norm in the fourth century CE. Some elements include the non-engaging oversized eyes, frontal placement of the figures, and the details of upperclass dress. Severan portraiture during Septimius Severus's reign was categorized by two distinct styles: Antonine-inspired, and one that combined the emperor's image with Serapis, a Greco-Egyptian god. After his death, Caracalla would initialize the departure from the Classicizing style and Greek traditions into what would become the style of the Late Antique period.

Stylistic Connections
The painting of the tondo on a wooden panel with tempera paints is consistent with that of Fayum mummy portraits style. Another stylistic connection is the addition of jewerly and wreaths in the tondo. This was an important element that displayed cultural identity and religious practices in Fayum portraiture. The use of the established Greek four-color pallet of white, red, yellow, and black and a single light source are another similarity between Fayum portraits and the Severan tondo. While many of the surviving Fayum portraits did pertain to burial or remembrance, some exmaples differ, such as the Severan Tondo. The Severan Tondo could have been displayed on a public building in a Fayum town. It may have been painted to celebrate the visit of Septimius Severus to Egypt in 199 CE, following his military victories against the Parthian Empire the previous year, and before his campaigns in north Africa in 203. The artist who would have created the Severan Tondo may have been primarily employed as a Fayum mummy portrait artist, which could explain the stylistic connections of this work to that of Fayum mummy portraiture.

Interpretation
The image is probably an example of imperial portraits that were mass-produced to be displayed in offices and public buildings throughout the Roman Empire; as part of Roman legal procedure, some documents had to be signed in front of an image of the emperor, which gave them the same status as if signed in his actual presence. With each change of emperor, the portrait would have been discarded or replaced. Since wood is an organic material and does not normally survive, the Severan Tondo remains the only surviving specimen of this type of painting.

Dating
Dating the tondo has caused some debate among scholars, with the interpretation of elements contributing to the dating of the piece, as well as the Serapis portrait style. Some argue about the presence of corkscrew locks on the upper portion of Severus’s forehead. The corkscrew locks, if present, indicate that the date of this piece follows the commencement of Serapis portrait type. Some scholars date the piece to be between 202-203 CE, because the Serapis style of portraiture is usually accepted as starting in 204 CE. The evidence points to the tondo being a precursor to the Serapis portrait type. Both Geta and Caracalla are pictured wearing crowns, this indicates that the painting came after 198 CE, the year that Geta became Caesar. Severus doesn't have signs of age in the tondo, which dates it before 202; Severus’s official portraiture first started to display signs of age in 202 CE. Also, Caracalla, born in 188, is depicted as a youth, indicating a date before about 205, when a more mature portrait style was introduced for him. Along with coin evidence and the dating of the Egyptian trip, the family portrait is now assumed to have been constructed between 199-200 CE.

Provenance
The history of the painting after its creation is not known until the Antikensammlung Berlin acquired it in 1932 from an art dealer in Paris. It is in the Altes Museum, one of the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).