The Head of Constantine the Great, York is the only surviving fragment of larger, marble statue of the Roman Emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

. It was found in Stonegate,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, before 1823, and is now in the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...

Discovery

The statue was presented to the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (latterly the Yorkshire Museum) in 1823 by James Atkinson, who had acquired the artefact following the excavation of ‘a drain in Stonegate’. Stonegate is a medieval street in York which overlays the ''

via praetoria In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

'' of the Roman legionary fortress of ''

Eboracum Eboracum () was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain and a provincial capital. The site remained occupied after the decline of the Western Roman Empire and ultimate ...

'' and it is possible that the complete statue originally stood within this area.

Description

The head is a fragment of a larger, twice life sized, statue of the Emperor Constantine the Great. It stands to a height of 42 cm, and is 27 cm wide and 30 cm deep. It measures 17.5 cm in diameter at the base of the neck as it now survives. The face is clean shaven and he wears a ''

corona civica The Civic Crown ( la, corona civica) was a military decoration during the Roman Republic and the subsequent Roman Empire, given to Romans who saved the lives of fellow citizens. It was regarded as the second highest decoration to which a citizen ...

''. The axis of the neck suggests that the face had originally been turned slightly to the left and down towards an audience below. Although the material was originally identified as

Magnesian Limestone The Magnesian Limestone is a suite of carbonate rocks in north-east England dating from the Permian period. The outcrop stretches from Nottingham northwards through Yorkshire and into County Durham where it is exposed along the coast between Ha ...

it has been subsequently re-identified as a coarse crystalline marble, of possible Italian origin.

Significance

A 2018 paper argues that the bust was remodelled from a statue of an earlier, deified emperor, probably

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

. It argues, through a re-analysis of the image, especially the use of the

, granted to Constantine only after the civil war in Italy against

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

had come to an end, that this recarving occurred after AD 312 and not, as widely believed, at the moment of Constantine's proclamation as emperor in York in AD 306.

Public display

The statue has formed part of the displays of the Yorkshire Museum since its opening in 1830. The 2006 exhibition ''Constantine the Great: York's Roman Emperor'', which featured the head as its central piece, was described as "the most important archaeological-historical loan exhibition to have been held in a provincial British museum". The curator Elizabeth Hartley was "the driving force" behind the exhibition, which attracted over 58,000 visitors. In 2010 the Yorkshire Museum reopened after a twelve-month closure for redevelopment. The new exhibition, "Roman York - Meet the People of the Empire" features the head as a central piece of the display. In 2013 the head was loaned to exhibitions in Milan and the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

to mark the 1700th anniversary of the

Edict of Milan The Edict of Milan ( la, Edictum Mediolanense; el, Διάταγμα τῶν Μεδιολάνων, ''Diatagma tōn Mediolanōn'') was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Frend, W. H. C. ( ...

, returning to York in September of that year. From July to October 2016, the bust was featured in an exhibition about Constantine's father

Constantius I Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...

titled "Constantius: York's Forgotten Emperor", which centred on the

Wold Newton Hoard The Wold Newton Hoard is a coin hoard dating from the early 4th century AD. It contains 1,857 coins held within a pottery container. It was acquired by the Yorkshire Museum in 2016. Discovery The hoard was found by metal detectorist David Bla ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Head of Constantine the Great, York Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century 4th-century Roman sculptures Buildings and structures in Roman Britain Late Roman Empire sculptures Cultural depictions of Constantine the Great Statues of monarchs History of North Yorkshire Collections of the Yorkshire Museum Roman sculpture portraits of emperors Stonegate (York)

Discovery

Description

Significance

Public display

See also

References