Hadrian, Roman emperor from 117 CE to 138 CE, ruthlessly quashed the Bar Kokba Revolt and resettled Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina.

This bust is was found at the Villa Adriana, the Roman emperor Hadrian’s magnificent country residence near Tivoli, outside Rome.

In ancient Rome, the dedication of public statues was governed by rules concerning location, material and iconography. This was even more important when it concerned imperial images. Official portraits were an extremely important way for Roman emperors to reach out to their subjects and their public image was defined by them.

There are hundreds of surviving imperial statues, which show us that there were only three ways in which the emperor could officially be represented- in the battle dress of a general; in a toga, the Roman state civilian costume; or nude, likened to a god. These formats powerfully and effectively evoked the emperor’s role as commander-in-chief, magistrate or priest, and finally as the ultimate embodiment of divine providence.