Seen from behind??

[silvernut]

Hi,

Probably again one of my very basic questions, but what's the point of adding "seen from behind" in bust types? To be honest, I've never seen any backs of emperor's heads!! The thing is, what's the difference between a bust "seen from behind" and another one not so? Thanks!!

Regards,
Ignasi

[mauseus]

Hi,

This is an example of a draped and cuirassed bust seen from behind:

The right shoulder is forwards of centre. On one seen from the front the right shoulder is to the left of centre:

In other words you either see the drapery that goes behind the emperor's shoulders (rear) or across the emperor's chest (front).

Regards,

Mauseus

[maridvnvm]

Ignasi,
The "seen from behind" refers to the positioning of the right shoulder of the Emperor. The Head remains in profile.

I will illustrate with a couple of coins of Probus:-

This bust seen from the front.


This one seen from the rear.


On the first coin the cuirass can be see on the left hand side of the coin and you can see the chest of the emperor. On the second coin the cuirass can be seen towards the right and what we can see is the back of the emperor.

(Mauseus beat me to the post by a few seconds but I thought I would post it regardless.)

Regards,
Martin

[silvernut]

Thansk, both of you. So it's basically the position of the shoulder pad, if I understand correctly... ? I basically have to look for the (what's-it-called) "button" that holds the drapery on the shoulder. Good, I had no idea that in the "seen from behind" the right shoulder was so to the left of the image. Much clearer now, thank you.

Regards,
Ignasi

[Joe Sermarini]

"Seen from behind," means, if the portrait was a photograph, the camera would have been behind the emperor when the picture was snapped.  His head is turned toward the near shoulder so you can see his profile instead of the back of his head.     

[Jochen]

We have had a thread about this subject some time before. Lech.Stepniewski had made a nice scetch to show the difference. Please take a look at https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=8833.msg65385#msg65385

Best regards

[silvernut]

I think I got it. The sketches and photographs have clarified it for me. Thank you all for your kind replies.

Regards,
Ignasi