Pseudo-Seneca, Portrait of Hesiod (?)

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The Pseudo-Seneca is a Roman bronze bust dating back to the late 1st century BC that was unearthed at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum in 1754. This exceptional piece is one of about two dozen examples depicting the same visage, and it was initially believed to be Seneca the Younger due to its emaciated features, which were thought to reflect his Stoic philosophy. However, modern scholars agree that it's more likely a fictional portrait meant for either Hesiod or Aristophanes. The original example is thought to have been a lost Greek bronze from around 200 BC. This bust is now preserved in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. The term "Pseudo-Seneca" also refers to the uncertain authors of various antique and medieval texts, such as De remediis fortuitorum, which claim to be written by the Roman author Seneca. Some of these texts seem to preserve and adapt genuine Senecan content, like Saint Martin of Braga's Formula vitae honestae or De differentiis quatuor virtutumvitae honestae. Early manuscripts preserved Martin's preface, where he clearly stated that this was his adaptation. However, in later copies, this preface was omitted, and the work became thought to be fully Seneca's. Portraits of ancient notables like this were once valued more for who they represented than their artistic merit. This bust was identified as Seneca from 1598 until 1813, when another portrait in Berlin was discovered with an inscription bearing his name but displaying a different likeness. Once it was established that this wasn't the Roman orator, poet, and dramatist Seneca, art historians began to focus more on the portrait's intrinsic qualities. This probably explains why this particular "Pseudo-Seneca" remained largely unknown for nearly a century after its discovery. The person depicted in this bust was clearly well-known in the Bay of Naples area, as most similar sculptures made of bronze and marble have been found there. On the original, the whites of the eyes, crafted from bone, still remain intact.