marmo bianco

The head is broken at the neck with a clean cut at the back, allowing it to be identified as a hermit or decorative element, to be viewed only from the front. The face is oval, slightly asymmetrical on the right, with a low forehead. The eyes are large and the eyelids fleshy. The lower eyelid is emphasised by an incised line. The nostrils are marked by deep wrinkles. The mouth has a lower lip that is much fuller than the upper lip and is emphasised by a deep dimple. The forehead is framed by hair that falls in large waves from the centre parting and then falls in a compact mass along the neck. The hair is topped by a double crown of wheat ears, a reference to the cult of fertility, which is linked to the college of the Fratres Alvares, an institution founded by Romulus and reformed by Augustus, with frequent appearances of the attribute in various imperial portraits. Perhaps the hermit is to be identified as the personification of Ceres. From the theatre of Libarna (AL).