Roman Art
Supposed portrait of Carneades
Uffizi Gallery, Inv. 1914, n. 20
III Century A.D.
Greek marble
Height: 70 cm (ancient part 35 cm)
The bust portrays an older man with a bald forehead and curly hair over the temples and nape of the neck, a thick beard and a mantle folded on the left shoulder. The artwork, one of the most significant Roman portraits owned by the Uffizi inspired by the “philosophers” Hellenistic prototypes, was last restored in 1972 and therefore need a thorough cleaning to remove the layer of soot accumulated over the decades. The old fillings also need replacing to ensure a better aesthetic reading of the work.
The restoration will include photographic documentation and petrographic analyses to investigate possible traces of ancient polychromies on the marble surface.
