Togatus Barberini is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

from around the first-century ADPollini, J. O. H. N. "Ritualizing Death in Republican Rome: Memory, Religion, Class Struggle, and the Wax Ancestral Mask Tradition’s Origin and Influence on Veristic Portraiture’." ''Performing Death: Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean'' (2007): 237-85. that depicts a full-body figure, referred to as a ''togatus'', holding the heads of deceased ancestors in either hand.Esdaile, Katharine A. "A Statue in the Palazzo Barberini." ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 1 (1911): 206-211. It is housed in the

Centrale Montemartini The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazz ...

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Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(formerly in the Capitoline Museums). Little is known about this sculpture and who it depicts, but it is speculated to be a representation of the Roman funerary practice of creating

death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...

Speculation of identity

Little is known about the identity of those depicted in the sculpture, but it is known that the type of shoes the middle figure is depicted to wear distinguishes them as a member of the Roman noble class. From this small bit of information, many theories have risen in speculation of the true identity of the center figure, but little evidence has been provided to back up many of these claims and as such they remain only theories. Recent research has suggested that represents a patrician

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, holding the heads of his ancestors. The head on the right is that of a famous

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

, which is evident thanks to the palm-tree support. Furthermore, it is now known that the head and body of the middle figure do not, in fact, belong to each other, evident due to the marble of the head and body being of different types and colors (the head being a white marble and the body being a yellow). This is made more evident due to the toga's finish from behind and the evidence of the restoration of the nose and ears. According to some, the figure is supposed to represent Brutus, holding the severed heads of his two sons, while others claim that instead it is the portrait of a sculptor. Other still believe the prominent figure to be that of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

, while many simply claim that the figure is an unknown Roman senator.Spivey, Nigel, and Michael Squire. ''Panorama of the classical world''. Getty Publications, 2011.

References

1st-century Roman sculptures 1st century in Italy Marble sculptures in Italy Sculptures in the Capitoline Museums