Bust of the sophist Polemon (?) – Hadrian and Athens

Provenance: Athens, north of the precinct of the Olympieion. Height: 0.645 m. (with the base). Marble: Pentelic.
Chronology: 130-140 AD. EAM 427

The portrait depicts a bearded man. He turns the head sharply upwards and to the left and he wears a himation over his shoulders. The crescent-shaped locks form a tongue-shaped extension on the forehead. The eyelids, rendered in «metallic» precision, the expression wrinkles and the partly open mouth evoke Classical models. It has been suggested that the portrait represents the sophist Polemon, famed for his haughty and pompous style.