AN ITALIAN PORTRAIT RELIEF ROUNDEL OF THE EMPEROR HADRIAN (76-138 AD) IN RED IMPERIAL PORPHYRY POSSIBLY 17TH CENTURY With gilt bronze laurel wreath mount inscribed 'HADRIANVS' and a later brass easel 23cm diameter Provenance: The Simon Neal Collection The subject of this profile relief portrait is the Emperor Hadrian (76 AD - 138 AD), which is highly appropriate given the significance of the stone it is carved from. The ancient Romans referred to the deep red and purple stone extracted from Mons Igneus (Mountain of Fire), now Gebel Dokhan in Egypt as Porphyry - which means purple. The use of 'Imperial porphyry' - as it is often called, was to a large extent controlled by the emperors, who had taken great pains and expense to extract it and towards the end of the Empire it became associated with the sacred power and imperial authority of the emperor, from cradle to grave. They were born in a chamber of porphyry and were buried in tombs of the same material, whilst in the intervening years in power, were draped in purple cloth of a similar hue. Therefore, even after the Roman Empire fell, the stone retained a special prestige, and the use of this beautiful deep red and speckled stone was revived during the 17th century. However, since the Egyptian quarries closed in the 5th century, the only way of obtaining the material was to reuse ancient pieces that remained in Rome.