This drawing belongs to the Ajello Sketchbook, a group of fifty-nine unbound pencil drawings that were models for engraving to illustrate a descriptive calendar of sculptures that Philip V and his wif [+]
In classical Antiquity the subjects of sculptures were identified by their attributes or gestures. In this case the figure’s pensive pose suggests that of one of the Muses, Polyhymnia or Clío, [+]
The body is a Roman copy of a Hellenic original from around 270 B.C.E. which may represent a philosopher of the Epicurean school. The head is a Baroque copy of the type known as pseudo-Seneca. It is m [+]