Head of a youth in the Severe style,

third quarter of 1st century BCE

The Romans developed a visual culture that engaged with the history of Greek art, using Greek originals as sources for imitation and innovation. The portrait of a helmeted man features a beard, visor, and direct stare that are reminiscent of portraits of the fifth-century BCE Athenian statesman Perikles, whom the Romans celebrated for his leadership during what they perceived to be a “Golden Age” of Athenian history. Roman artists also drew on Greek artistic styles for creating original works, such as the head of a youth, which exhibits features, including the eclectic and elaborate hairstyle, that are associated with many Archaic and early Classical Greek statues. The woman seen here wears a peplos, a style of clothing worn by Greek women that went out of fashion in the fifth century BCE. It likely could only have been known to the Roman sculptor through an earlier Greek prototype.