2nd Century AD bust looks like Elvis

But it's a good point, because it was during the Flavian dynasty that Roman bust portraiture took a turn toward the grotesque. I'm not sure what political considerations drove Elvis to take a turn toward the grotesque, but I'm glad that he did. My only regret is that James Dean didn't live long enough to wear a white, rhinestone-studded sausage casing.

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#19 posted by planettom , July 23, 2008 6:02 PM

Actually he looks a bit like the Safety Not Guaranteed Time Traveler.

http://timetraveler.ytmnd.com/

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#20 posted by Anonymous , July 23, 2008 6:12 PM

It looks like an Oompa-Loompa king!

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#21 posted by Anonymous , July 23, 2008 6:15 PM

Two great Kings of the modern world have appeared, sculpted by two great empires of the ancient world. When the third King is revealed, he will take his place beside He of Pop and He of Rock to welcome our returning savior.

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#22 posted by konshuss , July 23, 2008 6:18 PM

if elvis had lived a bit longer i think all the coke would've done that to his nose too.

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#23 posted by dbarak , July 23, 2008 6:25 PM

I gotta' say, you commenters make me laugh like crazy. Thanks.

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#24 posted by ladouceur78 , July 23, 2008 6:32 PM

Not so much the hair, but this fellow has got the sideburns down:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_ladouceur/449315195/

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#25 posted by Anonymous , July 23, 2008 6:36 PM

Antonious, that rocked! Personally, I suspect the Flavian busts were fairly accurate representations of the hairstyles and fashions of the day, and the advances in drilling technique simply allowed more lifelike replication of the absurdity of period style.

I like the republican era stuff best. Lookit this guy -

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ropo/ho_12.233.htm

(He looks just like me, only without pupils or a mohawk.)

--Charlie

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#26 posted by takeshi , July 23, 2008 6:45 PM

James Dean took an early exit via the vomitorium. Elvis was known to vomit opium. Coincidence? I think not.

That said, did anybody else read Elvis and Me? In it, Priscilla mentions Elvis taking LSD, and talking to angels on Graceland's roof.

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#27 posted by Xopher , July 23, 2008 7:16 PM

I thought James Dean died in a car (or was it motorcycle?) accident.

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#28 posted by minTphresh , July 23, 2008 7:25 PM

james dean wrapped his porche spider around a telephone pole(or a tree..i forget).

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#29 posted by Steiny , July 23, 2008 7:29 PM

Elvis my foot! It's this dude:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfkh0OojxY

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#30 posted by MarlboroTestMonkey7

, July 23, 2008 7:31 PM

Just showed it to the real Elvis. He shrugged and left.

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#31 posted by Dean

, July 23, 2008 7:42 PM

I'm starting to wonder if BB should absorb Neatorama or the other way around... Maybe we could have a contest to decide...

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#32 posted by farrellmcgovern , July 23, 2008 7:54 PM

I'll see your Michael Jackson Egyption, and raise you a bat man!

http://pics.livejournal.com/allah_sulu/pic/0008q6d9

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#33 posted by GeekMan , July 23, 2008 7:56 PM

#9 - A hunka-hunka burnin' stone?

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#34 posted by Ugly Canuck , July 23, 2008 8:10 PM

Funny I've always felt that my bust of Elvis looks very 2nd Century...(you know the bust I mean...)

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#35 posted by Bren , July 23, 2008 8:10 PM

Don't you ... step on my blue suede sandals?

C'mon and be my little ... good ankh charm?

We could go all night with these.

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#36 posted by takeshi , July 23, 2008 8:39 PM

Wikipedia:

"A vomitorium (plural: vomitoria) is a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre, through which crowds can "spew out" at the end of a performance."

And later:

"A commonly held, but false, belief is that Ancient Romans designated spaces called vomitoria for the purpose of actual vomiting, as part of a binge and purge cycle."

James Dean exiting the stage. Just referencing "Are You Lonesome Tonight."

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#37 posted by Takuan , July 23, 2008 8:44 PM

yes, quite.The true Latin name for the purge area was the "horkatorium",later changed by Claudius to the "Hwalpitia"

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#38 posted by Falcon_Seven , July 23, 2008 9:03 PM

And just when I was beginning to lose interest... Djambi, the chocolate icing!

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#39 posted by takeshi , July 23, 2008 9:30 PM

Or the "inner spewtum."

Yuck.

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#40 posted by eustace , July 23, 2008 9:36 PM

Strange that these anachronisms are showing up just as I've powered up my chronoapollumic generator... perhaps I should turn it back off just in case.

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#41 posted by Cowicide

, July 23, 2008 9:57 PM

2nd Century AD bust looks like Elvis

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, July 23, 2008 4:20 PM

Hmmm.... does this explain the lack of posts today beyond this one?

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#42 posted by tl , July 23, 2008 10:27 PM

OMG...Elvis is THE HIGHLANDER!

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#43 posted by Anonymous , July 23, 2008 10:59 PM

bubba hotep?

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#44 posted by Anonymous , July 23, 2008 11:09 PM

This is not a true "bust", obviously since it's just a head, but it's also not even a free standing piece of statuary. It looks like an Acroterion, an architectural ornament. Acroteria were usually in the form of palmettes. It looks like the sculptor kept the traditional shape by giving this guy the flamboyant hair so reminiscent of Elvis.

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#45 posted by Jo_Mullins , July 24, 2008 1:08 AM

In a similar vein, this bust from the Met in NYC is the spitting image of Voldemort (or at least the Ralph Fiennes version):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/annarchy1/2093371361/in/set-72157603398210460/

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#46 posted by LightningCrash

, July 24, 2008 6:14 AM

would be cooler if he was a steampunk elvis sculpture

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#47 posted by local_variable , July 24, 2008 7:08 AM

Well, this inspired me to create an account to just include this photo from Flickr (an even better Elvis on a sarcophagus):

Elvis on a sarcophagus