This life-sized bronze statue of a boy with a broad face and short hair resembles portraits of young princes in the family of Augustus. Augustus was the first Roman Emperor who ruled from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D. It has been suggested that the statue actually represents Gaius Julius Caesar, grandson of Augustus. Gaius was groomed from an early age to succeed as emperor, until his untimely death at age twenty-four.

This work is among the finest bronze statues to have survived from antiquity. Notice how sensitively the features are modeled. You can almost feel the soft flesh on the very young torso. The gestures of the hands are differentiated with great care. Look carefully at the drapery—how realistically it falls over the left arm. Notice the narrow bands that suggest woven patterns in the cloth.

Although the boy looks Roman, he is wearing a Greek cloak known as a pallium, instead of the voluminous official Roman toga. Perhaps, this is because the statue was set up on the island of Rhodes in the Eastern Mediterranean. There, ancient Greek cities continued to flourish as wealthy centers of commerce and culture during the Roman period.

Rhodes had a long tradition as an important center for the production of bronze sculpture. The famous statue of the sun god Helios, the so-called Colossos of Rhodes, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This fine bronze statue of a Roman boy wearing Greek dress testifies to the continuity between the Greek world and the Roman Empire.