2005/11/01 by Caroline Vout · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Anthropology #Archaeological Research and Protection #Art #Art History and Market Analysis #Art history #Classical Antiquity Studies #Collectable #History #Identification (biology) #Inclusion (mineral) #Portrait #Sociology #The Renaissance #Visual arts
paper · doi:10.3815/000000005784016342
openalex publication_date 2005/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Antinous was the young, male lover of Hadrian. His premature death in A.D. 130 led to an oddly extravagant commemoration. Post-Renaissance he became one of the most collectable portrait types. This article re-examines the corpus of portraits as it is currently configured. Its primary aim is not to exclude or add pieces but to question the criteria on which inclusion and exclusion are based. This questioning cuts to the heart of issues of identification, dating, and authenticity which impact on art-historical classification more generally. It exposes how in some ways the modern Antinous is one of the discipline's making.