Male Bust

Bust of a man, the head is unbroken from the bust. The man has a voluminous hairstyle, with very thick, clearly separated locks falling onto the forehead, a moustache, and a full, curly beard. There are wrinkles on his forehead, the cheeks are flaccid and the breast muscles are slightly flabby which may indicate that he is elderly. The man looks serious with his gaze turned to the left. There is a lot of drilling used for the hair at the front and the beard while at the back the hair is mainly rendered by carving. There is some reworking on the forehead and the eyes. It is difficult to date this portrait because there are many parallels from the Hadrianic, and general Antonine period to the Severan period. One of the features these Antonine and Severan portraits share but missing in this potrait is the indication for the iris and pupil. This omission may be due to some reworkingin that area. The nose and lower lip are the most obvious restorations. The size of the bust is first seen in the Hadrianic period and continues unchanged into the 3rd century AD. Blundell identified it as a portrait of Clodius Albinus, the emperor who had been given the title of Caesar by Septimus Severus.