Statue of a togatus

Statue of togatus in frontal posture, resting on his left leg, with the right slightly bent back and outwards. The man wears the garment of the civis romanus: a sleeved tunic with a toga wrapped around the whole body covering the lower part of the figure, and then pulled across the left shoulder. The emperor Augustus made it compulsory to wear the civis romanus traditional dress, the toga, during festivals and when attending public places.

The good plastic handling of the fabric is a reflection of the sculpture’s artistic quality: the lines and the design of the toga are well defined by grooves that grant volume and underline the garment’s folds; moreover, it is possible to detect the manly anatomic structure that, pulling the fabric, emerges from behind the folds.

Between the ankles, the creases of the lacinia are preserved; in some points the ima toga is smooth and clings to the body, enhancing its volumes, while in others, by contrast, is densely draped; the sinus falls just above the right knee where it bends creating several deep folds, it is then pulled upwards with a rectilinear arrangement parallel to the right hip, from which it is detached. The non encumbering balteus is pulled across the waist forming a quite flat umbo. The feet are shod with the calcei patricii, righteously integrated during restoration, while the tree trunk with supporting function is still preserved.

Considering the stylistic characteristics of the handling of the garment and of the thickness of the drapery’s folds, it is possible to assign the statue of togatus (type Ba) a chronology ranging from the half of the I to the beginning of the II century AD (Rupprecht Goette, H., Studien zu romischen Togadarstellungen, Mainz am Rhein 1990, pp. 29-35, type Ba).

The statue has been restored integrating those parts of the flesh left uncovered by the garment (arms, hands and head), which were in origin sculpted separately and then attached, and therefore more fragile. These parts were very often carved in Greek marble which, because of its greater brightness, granted contrast with the Italian marble used for the dress. Also the head has been restored with Augustus features.