Bronze statuette of a philosopher

Said to have been found in Ostia. Purchased in 1910 and 1911 from L. Pollak, Rome.
Date: late first century BC. H. 0.26 (statuette alone).

The statuette was originally mounted upon a bronze Ionic column, of which only the capital and the core of the shaft are left. The identification of the person is made possible by the close resemblance of the head to a small bronze bust from Herculaneum in the Museum of Naples, which is inscribed with the name of the philosopher Hermarchos, a pupil of Epicurus in the third century BC.

Inv. nr. 10.231.1. E. Robinson, "Statuette of Hermarchos", The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 6,6 (1911), 129-134. Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art. MMA info.