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Marble portrait of a man

late 1st century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 162
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marble portrait of a man
  • Period: Late Republican or Early Augustan
  • Date: late 1st century BCE
  • Culture: Roman
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: 12 3/8 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. (31.5 x 19.7 x 19.7 cm)
  • Classification: Stone Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1921
  • Object Number: 21.88.14
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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