Stone head of a Julio-Claudian youth, possibly of Gaius Caesar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The head, traditionally identified as a young Augustus, may now be compared with portraits of his elder grandson, Gaius Caesar (20 B.C.–A.D. 4). He is represented here as an adolescent of about 13 to 15 years of age, thus dating the work (if contemporary) to ca. 7–5 B.C. However, the identity and indeed the authenticity of the present head, like several others identified as Gaius Caesar, remain the subject of scholarly discussion and research. The condition of the stone also contributes to the difficulty in ascertaining whether the head is ancient or a high-quality European reproduction.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art