Male Bust

Fragment of a portrait of a man restored on a modern bust. The head is life-size and looks straight ahead. His hair is thick and tousled and five main locks fall onto this forehead, sweeping left and right from a small parting above the left eye. He has a small mouth with a protruding upper-lip, making him look slightly sulky. There are indications that he had a short, curly beard, although this has been badly weathered. The modelling of the mouth is according to Poulsen of the Domitian period, or the Neronian Flavian period ( between 60-90 AD ). Beards are normally associated with the Hadrian period but were known in earlier examples on coins and in private portraiture. In addition to the nose, bust and base, the whole back part of the head from the temples and including the crown of the head has been restored. The restoration show a resemblance to the works by Cavaceppi: the angular carving and overlapping flame like tufts with a bipartite termination. The head leans forward in the typical neo-classical manner and the bust is long and narrow resting on a low wide base. A patch on the right hand side of the neck has been broken off.