Tiridates I of Armenia
52 – 58, 62–88 AD
Tīridāt | Tirdad | Tiridátes | Τιριδάτης | تیرداد یکم ارمنستان | تیرداد | 𐭕𐭉𐭓𐭉𐭃𐭕
Recreation of Parthian prince, Tiridates I son of Vonones II, who became King of Armenia V from a Roman marble statue in roman attire. Download
Ver.1.0 - Last updated: Oct 7th 2021, by Mo. Rasoulipour
Brief Biography
Tiridates, the founder of Armanian Arsacid dynasty, was a first century Parthian prince, son of King Vonones II who was able to charm young Roman Emperor Nero and have his blessing for ruling Armenia after Roman Parthian war for that territory came to a standstill. The details of the ceremony and extravagance of this Tiridates visit is worth reading and is believed by some to have inspired the story of three magi bringing gifts for Jesus’s birth. It is said that he was a Zoroastrian priest, and was a big influence in developing Mithraism.
- Paraphrased from an excellent article about him on Wikipedia
References
There is a Marble statue of Tiridates that was reportedly made on the orders of Nero after Tiridates’s coronation in Rome. This recreation is of great importance due to the availability of this realistic Roman statue of him, made in 66 CE. This give a clearer picture on how Parthians and specifically him and his family looked like.
The Roman marble sculpture used in this recreation has apparently been removed from display in louvre, so the latest image of it available publicly is from 2006. There is though a detailed painting of this statue done by Armenian artist Panos Terlemezian which was used as a reference as well.
Likely Accuracy of the Creative Recreation
Strong Guess:
This is one of the few opportunities in this project to recreate something form a presumably accurate depiction of a Parthian face. Due to availability of a realistic and exact statue of Tiridates by Roman artists, we can confidently say Tiridates could have looked like this. One area of ambiguity is his complexion.
This recreation has also been used to inform the face of Tiridates’s brother, Parthian Emperor, Vologases I.
See the latest work in progress:
Permissions
This is as close as a creative project can get to being open source. You are welcome to download, use, and modify the images.
You are however not permitted to sell the products or place barriers of access for public view and use.
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