Guide

IPOTESI SULLA TESTA DI MARMO DEL GIOVANE ROMANO

Ecco le opinioni di alcuni studiosi della civilta’ romana.

I’ll admit having my usual knee-jerk skepticism about this one — I really didn’t think there was enough there to establish anything. We should also note that this wasn’t a ‘new’ theory … it has been around for quite a while and was the focus of an article in British Archaeology a couple of years ago (which seems to be the background info for much of the press coverage). Whatever the case, the results of the laser scans are done and the BBC seems to be the first off the mark with the coverage (excerpts).

Experts say they have proved a statue fragment found in West Sussex depicts the Roman emperor Nero as a young man.

Scientists from Bournemouth University have spent the day at Fishbourne Roman Palace using a 3D laser scanner to make a full head image from the fragment.

Dr Miles Russell, from Bournemouth University, said: “It is a very well executed piece, it is extremely lifelike and made out of Italian marble which had been imported here.

“It is a very expensive artefact, which has been smashed into pieces before being buried in foundation rubble.”

The digital image produced by the scanner was compared with the known depictions of Nero in Parma and Paris.

Dr Russell said he was 100% confident they matched.

“He has that very distinctive hair over his ears and very distinctive almond eyes,” he said.

The BBC item also has a short video report (which includes the important detail that the fragment is Italian marble):

BBC Interview to Dr. Rob Symmons and Miles Russell

It seems to be a reasonable conclusion, but after seeing the process — which does not seem to have involved scanning the comparative pieces in Parma or Paris — I can’t help but wonder what the point of the scanning actually was. The bottom line seems to be the distinctive hair and eyes, which was something apparent prior to the scanning, no? And if it’s just hair and (fragmentary) eyes, can we be sure it isn’t Britannicus?

By David Meadows, Toronto - Canada