Page 192 - The mystery of faith

Antonine periods saw a revival of the Republican portrait style that demanded an almost brutal degree
of verismo in male subjects, and partly because female physiognomy lent itself more comfortably to
illustrating ideals of youth and beauty. Strictly speaking, given the hairstyle, the drapery and the carving
of the eyes, Bigarny possibly based this work on an Augustan model. Features such as the upper eyelids,
which are wider than the lower eyelids and are drawn towards the high straight narrow bridge of the
nose tapering into the brow, the full lower lip, and the use of the drill to mark the tear ducts and to
carve under the waves of the hair, making them appear deeply recessed beneath the mantle, are all
characteristic of Augustan sculpture.

Although the bust follows the aesthetic and technical guidelines of Roman sculpture, it is not strictly a
copy after the antique since the artist freely exercised his personal style in the carving of the hair,

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