Object Description
Italian, 19th century, After the Antique
Bust of a Roman man, the so-called Cicero
Marble, on ebonised wood base
44 cm. / 17 ¼ ins high (the bust), 54 cm. / 21 ¼ ins incl. socle
This well-carved marble bust is after an ancient portrait in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, which historically was thought to depict the Roman orator and writer, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC).
Cicero is regarded as one of the finest orators of all time, whose inspiration and style came from his love of Greek culture and philosophy. In addition, he was one of the most important intellectuals of ancient Rome, who translated key works of Greek philosophy into Latin. Cicero’s letters and dialogues, meanwhile, provided an exempla of humanist and Stoic modes of thinking for intellectuals from the early Renaissance onwards.
The so-called Cicero in the Uffizi (inv. no. 1914 n. 393) was discovered during earthworks at the church of S. Ignazio in Rome in the early seventeenth century. It was subsequently sold to Leopoldo de’ Medici and sent to Florence in 1669. As a result of the wart on his left cheek, the Uffizi bust was assumed until recently to depict Cicero, who is known to have had a chickpea-shaped imperfection on his face. The importance of the sitter was supported by the fact that at least five other Roman busts of the same man have been discovered. Recent scholarship, however, has confirmed that the Uffizi bust is more likely to portray another important Roman statesman or philosopher of the late Republican period.
From the seventeenth until the nineteenth century, marble replicas of the so-called Cicero became a popular souvenir amongst erudite Grand Tour collectors visiting Italy, who wished to own a striking image of the famous Roman orator.
The present bust is a well-executed copy of the Uffizi portrait, exhibiting fine plastic modelling of the furrowed brows, tight cheeks and throbbing neck muscles found in the original. This lends the present portrait a severe and Stoic countenance, traits becoming of an important intellectual or statesman of the Roman Republic.