Retrato del joven César capite velato procedente del foro local de Tarraco

Abstract

The aim of this work is the exhaustive analysis of a very deteriorated portrait head with velatio capitis, which has been scarcely studied. This piece was found at the end of the nineteenth century in the local forum of Tarraco, and belonged to a gallery of statues dedicated to the Julio-Claudian imperial family. Through the comparison with portraits of members of this dynasty and the review of all the Hispanic effigies with velatio capitis – both heads and torsos –, it is concluded that the portrait from Tarragona represents Augustus. Likewise, this article considerably puts forward its dating to the years of life of this emperor, rectifying the previously proposed chronology to the era of Claudius.