Jack Balas, 2015; ANTINOUS ET HADRIAN, EMPEROR (#1212) (Muse/Museum Series); watercolor & acrylic on paper, 15" x 22"

This painting is a riff on a couple of marble portrait-bust sculptures displayed side by side at the Art Institute of Chicago. The text of the second title tag (Hadrian; read below) is something I wrote myself. It responds to a more recent, more explicit title tag I saw in the museum a year ago, as opposed to one that was less revealing four years ago.

TEXTS:

-----Portrait of Antinous
Roman
2nd century A.D.
Marble
Gift of Mrs. Charles L. Hutchinson, 1924.979
This portrait depicts Antinous (c A.D. 110-30), the handsome, youthful companion of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (r. A.D. 117-38). He is immediately identifiable by his round....

----Portrait of Emperor Hadrian
Roman, 2nd century A.D.
Marble
Katherine K. Adler Memorial Fund, 1979.350
Now that it's OK to be out in America these days, t (trails off edge) Institute wants to apologize to all of our gay visitors o(trails off edge) last ninety years (since we first acquired the por (trails off edge) Antinous) who never were told the true story betwe (trails off edge) and Emperor Hadrian here. Until just a couple years ago (trails off edge) curatorial tags made no reference to their contests of (trails off edge) love, not to mention legendary food fights and day (trails off edge) whipped cream battles, all of which were followed with (trails off edge)
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(below includes the bits that got cut off in painting the above paragraph onto the paper:)

Now that it's OK to be out in America these days, the Art Institute wants to apologize to all of our gay visitors over the last ninety years (since we first acquired the portrait of Antinous) who never were told the true story between him and Emperor Hadrian here. Until just a couple years ago these curatorial tags made no reference to their contests of erotic love, not to mention legendary food fights and days-long whipped cream battles, all of which were followed with
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ORIGINAL TITLE TAGS IN THE ART INSTITUTE:

(Antinous)
This portrait depicts Antinous (c A.D. 110-30), the handsome, youthful companion of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (r. A.D. 117-38). He is immediately identifiable by his round face, deep-set eyes, bow-shaped mouth, and layers of thick, wavy hair. Although Hadrian had long been married to Sabina (c. A.D. 83-136 or 137), he is thought to have shared an intimate relationship with the young man in the spirit of the Greek aristocratic tradition of erotic love between a man and a male youth. The two spent several years traveling the Roman Empire together until Antinous drowned in the Nile River in 130. Devastated by his companion's untimely death, Hadrian founded a city named Antinoupolis on the east bank of the Nile and had the young man deified, after which he established a cult in his honor. Hadrian also ordered sculptures of Antinous to be erected across the Roman Empire. This fragmentary head comes from a portrait bust of Antinous, which was likely displayed in Rome following his death.

(Hadrian)
The Roman emperor Hadrian (A.D. 76-138) was a great admirer of the Greeks. Unlike previous emperors, who were clean-shaven, Hadrian wore a beard, perhaps in emulation of the Greek philosophers whom he so revered. Here, Hadrian's closely cropped beard contrasts with the thick, luxurious curls that frame his face. This sculpture also features an innovative trend in Roman portraiture -- the artist carefully sculpted the irises and pupils of the eyes rather than rendering them in paint, as was typically done.