Marcus Aurelius aka Caracalla Bronze Bust After Giambologna

Our fine patinated bronze on marble plinth depicts Caracalla, known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor 198-217 AD, after the design by Giambologna (1529-1608), aka Jean de Boulogne and Giovanni da Bologna, the Flemish sculptor to came to acclaim in Italy in the late Renaissance period.

Signed on the shoulder GIAM BOLOGNA, this work dates from the early to mid 20th century.

A member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Septimius Severus, Caracalla was proclaimed co-ruler by his father at age 10.  He continued to reign with his brother Geta, co-emperor from 209, after their father's death in 211. His brother was murdered by the Praetorian Guard later that year, supposedly under orders from Caracalla himself, who then reigned afterwards as sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He found administration to be mundane, leaving those responsibilities to his mother, Julia Domna. Caracalla's reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples.

Caracalla's reign became notable for the Antonine Constitution, also known as the Edict of Caracalla, that granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the Roman Empire. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen: "Marcus Aurelius". Domestically, Caracalla became known for the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, which became the second-largest baths in Rome; for the introduction of a new Roman currency named the antoninianus, a sort of double denarius; and for the massacres he ordered, both in Rome and elsewhere in the empire. In 216, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire. He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. Macrinus succeeded him as emperor three days later.