Portrait of Euripedes, Farnese type

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This is a striking representation of Euripides from the Farnese collection in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. This masterpiece serves as the namesake for the Farnese portrait type of Euripides, known through approximately thirty copies. Euripides boasts longish, wavy hair that tapers at the front and cascades down in narrow strands across his high forehead. His robust beard is thick and luxuriant. The playwright's gaze is cast downward with subtle intensity, and his nose boasts a prominent hump at its summit. His thin lips are pressed tightly shut, revealing a slight overbite. Drapery falls elegantly from the left shoulder. Euripides was a renowned tragedian of ancient Athens. Alongside Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose substantial number of plays have withstood the test of time.