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Secondary sourceSculpture2nd-1st century BC (Roman copy)

Portrait of Pythagoras

2nd-1st century BC (Roman copy)

A Roman marble bust in the Capitoline Museums representing an ancient Greek portrait type identified as Pythagoras, though not a true likeness made in his lifetime.

This standard ancient portrait type represents how later Greeks and Romans imagined Pythagoras's appearance.

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White marble bust of a bearded man wearing a draped turban-like head covering. He has deep-set eyes, a prominent nose, and a full wavy beard. The bust rests on a rectangular marble base against a yellow-ochre wall.
Portrait of Pythagoras, Roman copy of a Greek original, 2nd-1st century BC. Capitoline Museums, Rome.

About this source

What it is

This marble bust, held in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, is a Roman copy of a Greek original portrait type dating to the 2nd-1st century BC. It depicts a bearded man wearing a draped head covering, identified in the museum's collection as Pythagoras.

Why it matters

No portrait was made of Pythagoras during his own lifetime, so this bust represents a later Greek and Roman idea of what a wise philosopher should look like rather than his actual appearance. It shows how ancient cultures created and copied standardised images of famous thinkers long after they lived.

Look closer

  • If this isn't a true likeness, why do you think ancient sculptors created a specific 'type' for Pythagoras's portrait?
  • What details — the beard, the head covering, the expression — suggest the sculptor wanted to show wisdom or authority?
  • Why do museums still label and display portraits like this as 'Pythagoras' even though they aren't exact likenesses?

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