Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs

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Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs is a famous Late Roman porphyry sculpture depicting the four co-emperors of the Tetrarchy in a stylized, tightly embracing group, now embedded in the exterior of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Late Roman sculpture
porphyry sculpture
sculpture
artHistoricalSignificance illustrates shift from classical naturalism to symbolic representation
key example of Late Antique abstraction in imperial portraiture
artisticStyle blocky
frontal
stylized
artMovement Late Antique art
countryOfOrigin Roman Empire NERFINISHED
culturalContext Roman imperial propaganda
currentLocation St Mark’s Basilica NERFINISHED
depictionForm group portrait
depicts Constantius Chlorus NERFINISHED
Diocletian NERFINISHED
Galerius NERFINISHED
Maximian NERFINISHED
Tetrarchy NERFINISHED
four Roman co-emperors
feature large staring eyes
military dress
paired figures embracing
sheathed swords
short, stocky proportions
tightly embracing figures
foundInCollection Treasury of St Mark’s Basilica NERFINISHED
genre imperial portrait
hasPart four conjoined statues
two Augusti figures
two Caesares figures
imageSubject Roman emperors NERFINISHED
inception around 300 CE
early 4th century
locatedInTheAdministrativeTerritorialEntity Italy NERFINISHED
Veneto NERFINISHED
Venice NERFINISHED
locationOnBuilding exterior of St Mark’s Basilica
southwest corner of St Mark’s Basilica
materialUsed porphyry
movement Late Antiquity
notableFor being spolia from the Eastern Roman Empire
prominent placement on St Mark’s Basilica in Venice
use of hard purple porphyry reserved for emperors
originalLocation Constantinople NERFINISHED
period Late Roman Empire NERFINISHED
symbolizes concordia Augustorum
imperial solidarity
unity of the Tetrarchy
title Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Tetrarchs hasIconicRepresentation Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs