Getty Museum

Herm Bust of a Greek Philosopher

Date

second half of 1st century A.D.

Medium

Italian marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Balding and with narrow-set eyes and a thick wavy beard, this man is familiar from two other portraits, although his identity is unknown. The folds of the mantle over his left chest and back, as well as his beard and advanced age, are typical of sculptures depicting Greek philosophers. Copying a work of the late 300s B.C., this bust could have stood in a gallery of portraits of intellectuals in a Roman villa.

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