Pair of Portrait Busts of Youths and an Unrelated Pair of Marble Eyes

Unknown

A.D. 60–70

Bronze and marble, Bronze, Marble

J. Paul Getty Museum

Two ancient bronze busts of youths with blank eyes are displayed side-by-side against a neutral gray background. Who do these two bronze portrait busts represent? They are very similar in appearance, although one appears slightly older than the other. Both boys have a hairstyle with a distinctive wave across the forehead, which was popular during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. The busts originally had long, separately made locks of hair, which were attached to the back of the heads. Their long locks may indicate that they represent a pair of attendants in a youth organization called the Iuventus, which held special favor under Nero. If so, these busts are the only known portraits of such attendants in the Iuventus and were probably creat