Julius Caesar - The Chiaramonti Caesar 44-30 BCE

November 22, 2019

Julius Caesar - The Chiaramonti Caesar 44-30 BCE

"It is said that he was tall, of a fair complexion, round limbed, rather full faced, with eyes black and piercing; and that he enjoyed excellent health, except towards the close of his life, when he was subject to sudden fainting-fits, and disturbance in his sleep. He was likewise twice seized with the falling sickness while engaged in active service. He was so nice in the care of his person, that he not only kept the hair of his head closely cut and had his face smoothly shaved, but even caused the hair on other parts of the body to be plucked out by the roots, a practice for which some persons rallied him. His baldness gave him much uneasiness, having often found himself upon that account exposed to the jibes of his enemies. He therefore used to bring forward the hair from the crown of his head; and of all the honours conferred upon him by the senate and people, there was none which he either accepted or used with greater pleasure, than the right of wearing constantly a laurel crown. It is said that he was particular in his dress. For he used the Latus Clavus with fringes about the wrists, and always had it girded about him, but rather loosely. This circumstance gave origin to the expression of Sylla, who often advised the nobles to beware of “the ill-girt boy.”

-Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus: The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, section XLV

The Chiaramonti Caesar, 44–30 BCE, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican Museums, is one of the two accepted portraits of Julius Caesar from before the age of the Roman Empire, alongside the Tusculum portrait. The bust has effected the iconography of Caesar and given name to the Chiaramonti-Pisa type, one of the two main types of facial portraits that can be seen of Caesar in modern day.