Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Infant Nero
Hiram Powers, born Woodstock, VT 1805-died Florence, Italy 1873 · modeled 1843
This portrait was commissioned as a “copy of the infant Nero” by an Englishman named C. Noel Welman. In contrast to many of his ideal sculptures, Hiram Powers modeled this piece to resemble the realistic style of Roman portraiture. Welman asked for a bust with no drapery, but evidently Powers ignored this request and the young child is shown with a Greek himation, or cloak, covering his shoulders.
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