Portrait of Julius Caesar

Professor Markus Trunk considers it probable that this figure represents Julius Caesar, as its physiognomy is related to the portrait of the type "Caesar Chiaramonti" in the Vatican collection, although it is far from being a copy of the latter. It does not, however, rule out the possibility that it may represent a contemporary of Caesar. The head is carved in pure white marble, without veins, and is a copy, made in the time of Trajan at the end of the 1st century AD, of an original from 50-40 BC. The bust is in white marble polychromed in red and dates from the early 3rd century AD. The head is missing the two ears and the nose is an addition made of different marble, a possible restoration by the Neapolitan sculptor, Giuliano Menichini, who was commissioned by the 1st Duke of Alcalá to restore "his first figures" from his entire collection, to be exhibited in his palace in Seville, today known as the Casa de Pilatos. The bust has a red polychrome toga and rests on a circular marble base with a small rectangular alabaster pedestal.