Pair Of Hanging Medallions In Bronze And Blue Marble Representing Two Emperors

Pair of hanging medallions in bronze and turquin blue marble representing Otto and Julius Caesar. Each medallion is bordered by a frieze decorated with lions and weapons. Early 19th century Usual restorations H. 17.5 x W. 15 cm The medallion representing Julius Caesar concerns the man looking to the right. The medallion bears the words “divi iuli” – from the divine Julius. Coming from a family of patricians, the matrimonial policy pursued by his family placed him at the heart of an important political and military network. He led an important military career before embarking on the “cursus honorum”. The success of his campaigns and his popularity allowed him to achieve the highest honors. The political situation allowed him to be named dictator for life in 44, which pushed the senators to eliminate him, whom they saw as a threat to their own power. His friends and supporters quickly deified him after his death, thus legitimizing the rise to power of his clan, specifically Augustus who became the first Roman emperor. A man of power, Caesar also became a man of legend, constantly represented. Associated in the collective imagination with the archetype of the Roman emperor (which he never was), his representation is frequent in the modern era where his image, associated with that of kings, becomes an instrument of assertion of power. The medallion which represents the emperor Otto (32-69), is the one where the face looks to the left. The medallion bears the inscription “Otho .Caes. Aug. » - Otto Augustus Caesar. From a family of notables from the gens Salvia, Otto experienced a golden and turbulent youth, alongside Nero, of whom he was one of the favorites. He nevertheless fell into disgrace and was sent to Lusitania where Suetonius reported that he stood out for the wisdom of his government. Candidate for the title of emperor after Galba (successor of Nero), Otto conspired and eliminated all his rivals to gain power in January 69. But tensions rose in the empire and Otto, not obtaining the expected military success, gave himself death on April 16, 69, two days after a defeat. We find numerous both artistic and literary representations of Otho. In Salins, the sculptor Landry executed a series of medallions representing the 12 Caesars for the wife of an advisor to Charles V. Othon's medallion is today kept at the Musée du Temps in Besançon. Later, it was Corneille himself who took up the subject, to write the play Othon (created in Fontainebleau in 1664), which was included in the corpus of so-called mature works. Otto is depicted without heroism, and the political reflection that takes place there explores the mysteries of power, far from the heroic virtues generally encountered in Corneille.