Italy, Roman, Augustan period / 27 BCE–14 CE
Portrait Bust of a Man
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Portrait Bust of a Man as sculpture (Italy, Roman, Augustan period · 27 BCE–14 CE).
This portrait originally had inlaid eyes, probably in stone, glass, or ivory.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as bronze.
The museum's collection notes: The realistic features of this fine life-sized portrait include wrinkles in the forehead and beside each eye, and very naturalistic ears, protruding but not quite symmetrical. The stylized hair is neatly arranged and suggests a date in the Augustan period, although some scholars have seen it as late Republican. Likely once topping a shaft as a herm bust, the portrait’s subject—now unknown—would have been identified by an inscription.
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtPortrait Bust of a ManOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.