Marble portrait of a man

Unknown

late 1st century BCE · Marble · Greek and Roman Art

This head with its broad forehead, narrow chin, and long scrawny neck is so similar to portraits of Julius Caesar as he appears on coins and in sculpture that, in the past, it was identified as that famous general and politician. Perhaps the man who is the actual subject of the portrait wished to accentuate this resemblance because he sympathized with the dictatorship of Caesar or with the cause of his party, the populares.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 1st century BCE

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1921