A case of mistaken identity? Laser-scanning the bronze “Claudius” from near Saxmundham

Abstract

The lifesize bronze head of a male ( fig. 1) in the Weston Gallery of the British Museum is one of the most iconic artefacts of Roman Britain. Widely interpreted as a portrait of the emperor Claudius forcibly removed from a statue in or near the temple of Claudius at Colchester by British insurgents during the Boudiccan Revolt of A.D. 60/61, it has never been reported upon in detail, 1 and there has recently been some dispute as to both its identity and its significance. 2 In an attempt to produce an accurate record of the head whilst simultaneously addressing issues surrounding its identity, the nature of its decapitation and subsequent disposal, the artefact was subjected to a three-dimensional laser scan, the results of which are discussed here.

Imaging Hadrian in Britain between Coinage and Sculpture: A New Digital Approach to the Study of Roman Imperial Portraiture

“… 5 See Russell and Manley 2013 on the identification of the bronze head of Nero at the British Museum (inv. 1848,1103.1), long thought to be Claudius.…”