Column of Trajan, Rome, Cast of head of Dacian man with swept back hair

Cast of head of Dacian man with swept back hair

From: Column of Trajan, Rome

RA Collection: Art

On the Column of Trajan this head appears without a body. It is that of Dacian who emerges from above a rocky outcrop. He serves as an endpoint to a battle scene between Dacians and auxiliaries in the First Dacian War.

The Column of Trajan was located in the Forum of Trajan (dedicated AD 113) in Rome and has remained standing since its original construction. It is made of three elements: a base with interior chambers; a column shaft; and a bronze statue of the Emperor on top, now replaced by St. Peter. A narrative frieze, full of figures and contextual detail, is carved around the exterior of the column in low relief; it recounts the two campaigns which Trajan led against the Dacians in AD 101-102, and 105-106.



The Royal Academy has 52 casts of heads in the form of medallions, and once had as many as 113 such casts. 105 of them may have come from the mid-18th c. collection of the Duke of Richmond and another eight came from the Thomas Lawrence collection. The Academy also has three casts of architectural details from the base.

All objects in this group

Object details

Title
Cast of head of Dacian man with swept back hair
From
Object type
Sculpture
Medium
Plaster cast
Dimensions

166 mm x 135 mm x 46 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
10/3295
return to start
back

Start exploring the RA Collection

read more
  • Explore art works, paint-smeared palettes, scribbled letters and more...
  • Artists and architects have run the RA for 250 years.
    Our Collection is a record of them.
Start exploring