Male Portrait of the So-Called "Cicero" in the Vatican Museum, July 2012

Marble Portrait of Cicero (so-called)

Inventory # 1359

From the Quintilii Villa on the Appian Way, this piece entered the Vatican collections in 1817. Once believed to be the portrait of the famous orator (106-43 BC), this theory, based on a 16th century inscription, is now questioned. The numerous copies suggest that it represents a famous individual who lived between the late Republican and early Augustan periods.

Text from the Vatican Museum label.