Exhibition: Dadamaino 1930-2004, Curated by Flaminio Gualdoni, Museo MA*GA – Fondazione Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Silvio Zanella, Gallarate (VA), December 17, 2023 – April 7, 2024
Lucius Aelius Caesar, intended heir to Hadrian. Born Lucius Ceionius Commodus on 13 January 101 CE, he was abruptly adopted by Hadrian in 136, after a near-fatal hemorrhage convinced the emperor that a designated successor was needed. (The move angered two men who had thought themselves in line for the position, Hadrian's brother-in-law Servianus and his grandson Fuscus Salinator. Claims of a planned coup circulated, and Hadrian had both men executed, which cast a dark cloud over the last years of his reign.) Lucius Aelius himself was in poor health and predeceased Hadrian on 1 January 138. In his stead, Hadrian adopted the future Antoninus Pius and compelled Antoninus in turn to adopt two heirs: the future Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Aelius' son, the future Lucius Verus.
Portrait bust by an unknown artist, 2nd century CE. Now in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo credit: Carole Raddato.