"Tiberius". Italy, XVII century.

"Tiberius". Italy, XVII century.
Relief in marble.
Measurements: 40 x 30 x 6 cm.

This Italian relief of Baroque period represents the Roman emperor Tiberius, identified by the profile portrait and the laurel crown, imperial attribute par excellence. The work is fully inscribed in the baroque classicist tradition, which recovers models of ancient Roman sculpture as a vehicle of authority, virtue and historical legitimacy.

The sculptor interprets the imperial model with a restrained and refined language: the severe profile, the robust neck and the sober treatment of the hair refer to Roman prototypes, while the soft modeling and the controlled depth of the relief respond to a fully modern sensibility for his time. The marble carving reveals a high technical level, especially in the transition between figure and background, which confers sculptural presence without losing elegance.

Works of this type were common in humanist and aristocratic contexts, where Roman emperors functioned as moral and political references. This relief of Tiberius is not only an archaeological evocation, but a cultural affirmation of the prestige of Antiquity reinterpreted from the Italian Seicento.