The form of the head, with its closely cropped hair, and the physiognomy are extremely realistic. The sculptor offers a very lifelike rendering of the crown of the head and the physiognomy of an older man with short, thin hair, the locks of which are delineated only with scribe marks. Hollow temples and cheeks, furrowed brow and deep-set eyes. There are four replicas of the portrait, in Florence, Ancona, Rome and Naples. The appellation of the portrait, “Pseudo-Cicero”, stems from the fact that during the Renaissance, its subject was said to be Cicero.

In 1924, Fr. Studnitska ventured (in Festschrift Heinrich Wolfflin) to attribute a certain terracotta bust in Florence’s Museo Bargello to Donatello (1386—1466); he called it Niccolò da Uzzano. This same Renaissance bust might indeed be a Cicero — but, in all likelihood, it was not made by Donatello. Vagn Poulsen (V. Poulsen (1973) 43) claimed that the present portrait was a depiction of Cicero’s renowned friend in Athens, Titus Pomponius Atticus (109—32 B.C.). J. C. Balty identified the head as Varro (116—27 B.C.). In any event, the bust has been executed in the tradition for private portraits predominant in the Late Hellenistic cities.

Original: c. 50 B.C. Copy: Augustan.

I.N. 1944
Head.
Marble. H. 0.32.

Acquired in 1902 in Rome, through the mediation of Arndt. The nose and the rims of the ears are broken off and they are missing. The neck is shaped for the insertion of the bust on top of a statue.

Bibliography: F. Poulsen 1951, Cat. 571; V. Poulsen 1973, Cat. 3; Zanker, Rezeption, 590, n. 49; H. Weber, AntK 18 (1975) 29; H. Weber, Jarhb. öster Archhist., Beiblatt 51 (1976-77) sp. 35; P. Zanker, Die Bildnisse Augustus (1979) 87; A. Stewart, Attika (1979) 76, 94, n. 52; Kockel, Porträtreliefs, 190, n. 12.