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Artist/Maker
Unknown artist
Date19th century
MediumCast bronze with inlay on marble base
DimensionsOverall: 18 × 9 × 11 in. (45.7 × 22.9 × 27.9 cm)
Base: 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hugh Jamison, Class of 1941
Object number2023.10.73
On view
DescriptionThis nineteenth century bronze bust is a copy of a late first century BCE Roman bronze, which is itself a copy of an ancient Greek original. The Roman bronze, uncovered at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum in 1754, and now residing in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, was initially identified as the Stoic Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE–65 CE). Most scholars now agree that it is a fictitious portrait, perhaps of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes (446 BCE–386 BCE) or the Greek poet Hesiod (active c. 700 BCE). The identification of the bust as a portrait of Seneca was partially related to its haggard features, which were thought to reflect the philosopher’s stoicism. Copies of this work became popular with artists and intellectuals, even though its identification as a portrait of Seneca was in doubt as early as 1764. The version of the bust displayed here has inlaid eyes, possibly made of ivory.
Collections
Additional Details
Unknown artist
Date: 19th century
Medium: Cast bronze
Object number: 2023.10.80
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 1300-1100 BCE
Medium: Terracotta with slip
Object number: 2015.6.6
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 350-325 BCE
Medium: Terracotta with slip and pigment
Object number: 1929.44
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 350-320 BCE
Medium: Polychrome terracotta with slip and pigment
Object number: 1929.30
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: 69 C.E. - 79 C.E.
Medium: Bronze
Object number: S2018.1.30
Hiram Powers
Date: 1867-70
Medium: Marble
Object number: 1869.2
The Rosoni Painter
Date: c. 570-550 BCE
Medium: Terracotta with slip
Object number: 1943.2
Unknown artist
Date: 19th century
Medium: Cast bronze
Object number: 2023.10.72