Portrait Head of a Julio-Claudian Prince

Only the head and the proper right part of the neck are ancient. Historic restorations of the bust, chin, and nose were removed in 1974. The head once belonged to a full-length togate statue of a young man shown "capite velato" or "capite coperto," i.e. with the head covered, indicating he was represented as a priest and/or egaged in a sacred act such as performing a sacrifice. The short, comma shaped locks are the characteristic hairstyle of men during the Julio-Claudian period. The specific arrangement of locks along the hairline and the long sideburns are found in a number of other portraits, which are replicas of the same type previously believed to depict Germanicus (the father of Caligula), but more likely representing Nero Caesar (AD 6-31), Germanicus' oldest son and brother of Caligula.