Description: its somewhat ornate and florid style would seem to indicate a Gaulish, rather than an Italian, workshop. The figure, which is hollow-cast and 22 inches high, stands with the weight on the right leg, while the left foot is raised and may have rested originally on a globe or helmet. The right hand grasped a now vanished spear or sceptre, and the whole of the left arm is lost. The subject wears imperial dress - decorated boots, a short tunic, and a cuirass which is richly adorned with inlaid silver and niello patterns. The full, plump face, the upstanding hair above the brow, the slightly parted lips, and the upward gaze of the eyes, that were clearly once inlaid with colours, are all suggestive of Nero in the guise of Alexander (Toynbee).
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Image: Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum.