Male Bust
59.148.172
Information
Portrait of an old man with a thin and bony face and wrinkles extended onto his neck. He has long thick strands of hair across the crown of the head. His hair is combed onto his forehead and is in the fringe hairstyle, typical of the Trajanic period. The portrait has a veristic quality which is normally associated with the Republican period and in combination with the hairstyle finds many parallels in grave portraits of this period. The quality of the portrait and their frequent appearance on grave reliefs as freedmen suggests that they depict people of a specific social group, possibly among the freedmen. The bust is modern made with thin slabs of yellow and red alabastro or scagiola and black marble, a technique known from the 16th century and the bust is probably from the 17th century when the polychrome appealed to the Baroque taste. The bust was made as a pair to Ince 542. The base of the bust is also made in black marble. The portrait has restorations on the nose and both ears, an area on right side of the chin and the lower part of the neck. Some reworking took place on the mouth and the chin.