Head of a Balding Man

The detailed craftsmanship of this distinctive portrayal of a bearded, balding older man may indicate that he is someone of importance, perhaps a magistrate. With its deeply incised pupils and furrowed brow, the portrait has a look of distracted weariness and introspection that is characteristic of a period when the Roman Empire was threatened by barbarians, internal unrest, plague, and famine. The contrasting textures of the smoothly polished skin and the deeply drilled curls of the hair and beard are features of sculpture of the mid-200s A.D. The unusual blue-gray marble used for this portrait comes from a site in Turkey near the Sea of Marmara and may indicate that the subject of this portrait lived in that area of the Roman Empire.