Bust of Trajan

The Emperor Trajan (53-117AD; r. 98-117AD), is portrayed carved in red porphyry. He is shown in bust form, with his head turned slightly to the left. He wears a mantle fastened with a brooch on his left shoulder over a cuirass with a Medusa head in the centre. Over his right shoulder is a strap terminating in a lion mask. His upper arms are covered by short fringed sleeves. The bust sits on a contemporary circular porphyry base. The sculpture is anonymous, but was probably carved in Italy in the late eighteenth century. It may have originally formed part of a set of Roman emperors.