Un contributo ‘palermitano’ al ciclo giulio-claudio di Centuripe

The Julio-Claudian portraits from Centuripe. A contribution from Palermo · The sculptural group of Julio-Claudian princes from Centuripe (en, Sicily) deserves an in-depth analysis after the recent works by R. Patané, who collected a lot of data and proposed a new interpretation of the whole context. Patané’s proposals are discussed starting from two pieces in the Regional Archaeological Museum “Antonino Salinas” at Palermo. A fragment of a cuirassed statue, discovered in the 19th century near the Chiesa del Crocifisso (that is, near the “Edificio degli Augustali”, at that time not yet discovered), is similar to several fragments belonging to three to six different statues of the Julio-Claudian era, coming from the same area and probably belonging together: the male members of the dynasty were seemingly shown militari habitu, likely replicating the format of Augustus’ statue itself. The second piece, a portrait of an old lady, is of uncertain origin, like a few portraits that were acquired early in the 20th century by the Archaeological Museum of Syracuse, possibly from illicit excavations in the area of the Mulino Barbagallo. The opportunity is taken for assessing the role of private portraiture in Centuripe in the Early Imperial Age, and for evaluating the relationship with the other sculptural finds from the “Edificio degli Augustali” complex.