This is not a portrait of an emperor but has the hallmarks of a lesser ranking Roman. The blank eyes and the characterful lines around them are typical of the first century CE, when there was a vogue for ‘veristic’ portraits. Despite this name it is unlikely that such portraits are true to life. It is more probably a particular form of idealism, showing the qualities that appealed to the traditional Roman elite: dignity, seniority, sobriety and gravitas
Rome, National Museum, 353
Transferred from the Museum für Abgüsse Klassischer Bildwerke, Munich, 29-30 October 1991
Helbig: Führer durch die Sammlungen Klassischer Altertümer in Rom III (1969), 215, no. 2299
Hekler: Greek and Roman Portraits, pl. 139
Found near the Baths of Neptune in Ostia in 1888
