Male Bust

Portrait of an old man restored on modern bust. The head was originally looking straight or slightly turned to the left similarly to the way it has been restored on the modern bust. The upper part of the head has an oval shape, interrupted by the deep temporal fossae and the long wrinkles running across the forehead. This is a veristic portrait of an old man as suggested by the wrinkled leathered skin, the loose skin of the neck and the small rolls of fat at the nape of the neck. The treatment of the upper part of the head, the shape of eyes and the thick upper and lower lids and the deep fossae indicate a late Augustan-early Claudian date. The modelling of the skin and the treatment of the age are inspired by earlier Republican traditions than the Augustan style.
Restorations to the face are particularly noticeable on the eyebrows, chin, upper lip and nose, and impact marks are visible on the cheeks. The surface is highly porous and blurred, suggesting it may have been treated with chemicals. Some reworking has taken place around the eyes and the closely packed very sharply incised lines suggest that the hair is modern. The compressed shape of the modern bust and the way the head is joined to the bust, the modern patch of the chin on the head are similar to the restoration found in 59.148.139, the colossal head of Vespasio. This type of restoration is associated with the restorer Giovanni Volpato.