Unlike the other two busts on the Fiera arch, in this case the sculptor draws not on the inspiration of contemporary figures but the greatest Latin poet of all. Among the many depictions of Virgil in the city, this one shows him almost as an elderly man, perhaps overwhelmed by the weight of his own genius. What is magnificent and realistic, however, is the depiction of the face of the spiritual patron of Mantua, a conception of which emerged during the Renaissance.
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