Uncanonical imperial portraits in the eastern Roman provinces - The case of the Kanellopoulos emperor

The identity of the imperial portrait in the Kanellopoulos Museum in Athens has baffled modern viewers. The portrait lacks an inscription and the prov enance is unknown, although is is probably from the Roman East. The portrai t bears the imperial attribute of a corona civica yet its features do not c losely resemble those of any emperor. Comparison with other provincial impe rial portraits in sculpture and on coins reveals that deviation from Roman canonical types is common, a finding also supported in the ancient literatu re. Stylistic analysis places the portrait in the early 2nd century, so the Kanellopoulos Emperor is probably Trajan.