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Unknown Maker, Roman

Portrait of a man in the Republican style
Now On View

Maker

Unknown Maker, Roman

Culture

Roman

Title

Portrait of a man in the Republican style
Republican Portrait of a Man

Period

Early Imperial period

Year

first century CE or later

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

white marble

Dimensions

Height: 33.5 cm (13 3/16 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

25.063

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries
Sep 22, 2010

Label copy

This carefully sculpted head represents a particular individual: a balding man of late middle age with wrinkled, sagging skin and a serious expression. At the same time, it depicts an ideal type: that of a statesman in the Roman Republican period, when high political offices were reserved for those of advanced years and patrician birth. Images of the time sought to highlight culturally defined virtues: frankness, integrity, and devotion to duty. Portrait statues of illustrious men filled Rome’s public spaces and portrait busts of distinguished ancestors lined the entrance halls of the homes of the Roman elite.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Roman
Portrait of a man in the Republican style; Republican Portrait of a Man, first century CE or later
Marble
Height: 33.5 cm (13 3/16 inches)
Museum Appropriation Fund 25.063

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